He was nineteen. That’s the thing people forget when they look back at the blurry paparazzi photos of a kid in a sheepskin coat leaving The Nice Guy in West Hollywood. Harry Styles in 2013 wasn't just a boy band member anymore; he was becoming a prototype. If you were there, on Tumblr or Twitter, you felt the shift. It wasn't just about "What Makes You Beautiful" or the bubblegum sheen of the Up All Night era. By the time the Take Me Home tour kicked off in February 2013 at the O2 Arena, the skinny jeans were tighter, the hair was getting significantly more chaotic, and the industry was starting to realize that the curly-haired kid from Cheshire was a gravitational force.
It was a weird year for music. Lorde was blowing up with "Royals," Miley Cyrus was reinventing herself at the VMAs, and One Direction was somehow the biggest thing on the planet while simultaneously being written off as a fleeting fad by "serious" critics. But look closer.
Everything about the "Harry Styles" brand we see today—the high-fashion Gucci campaigns, the gender-fluidity, the rock-star-in-hiding persona—it all started right here. In 2013, Harry was the eye of the storm.
The Year the Saint Laurent Aesthetic Took Over
Before 2013, the One Direction "look" was very much about coordinated outfits. Think chinos, suspenders, and those little polo shirts. It was cute. It was safe. Then, Hedi Slimane took over at Saint Laurent, and Harry Styles basically became his unofficial muse.
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Suddenly, the chinos were gone.
Harry started wearing those razor-thin black jeans and the Wyatt boots that every guy in East London and SoHo eventually tried to copy. This wasn't just a wardrobe change. It was a declaration of independence from the "boy band" mold. He was leaning into a vibe that felt more like Mick Jagger or Keith Richards than Justin Bieber. You saw it at the British Fashion Awards in December 2013, where he won the British Style Award. He stood there in a black sheer shirt and a blazer, looking like he’d just walked off a 1970s film set.
People were obsessed. The "Harry Styles style" became a search term that didn't just move magazines; it moved entire retail markets. Topman couldn't keep those floral shirts in stock because he’d been spotted wearing one at a London Fashion Week show. It was the first real evidence that his influence extended far beyond a teenage fanbase.
What Really Happened with the Media Frenzy
Honestly, the paparazzi situation in 2013 was borderline psychotic. We’re talking about a time when Harry couldn’t walk three feet from his door in Hampstead without a dozen lenses in his face. It was the year of "Haylor"—the short-lived but internet-shattering relationship with Taylor Swift. Even though they actually broke up in the very first week of January 2013 after that infamous New Year's Eve kiss in Times Square and the subsequent boat trip in the British Virgin Islands, the fallout lasted the entire year.
The media spent months dissecting every lyric of "I Knew You Were Trouble." Harry, for his part, stayed famously quiet. That’s a tactic he mastered in 2013: the art of the silent protagonist. By not tweeting his feelings or doing "tell-all" interviews, he created a mystique that most pop stars are too scared to maintain.
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Then there were the rumors.
If you were on the internet in 2013, you know about the sheer volume of "shipping" and the relentless speculation about his personal life. It was intense. It was often invasive. But it also proved that Harry was the primary protagonist of the 1D narrative. Whether he was hanging out with Nick Grimshaw at London clubs or being spotted at a random diner in Los Angeles, he was the one the cameras followed.
One Direction’s Peak and the Midnight Memories Shift
November 2013 gave us Midnight Memories. This is the album where Harry Styles in 2013 really found his voice as a songwriter. Listen to "Story of My Life" or "Happily." You can hear the folk-rock influence creeping in. He was pushing the band away from Max Martin-style pop and toward something grittier.
The This Is Us documentary also came out in August 2013. Directed by Morgan Spurlock, it was meant to be a puff piece for the fans. But if you watch it now, you see the exhaustion. There’s a scene where Harry is back in Holmes Chapel, visiting the bakery where he used to work. He looks like he’s from another planet. He’s kind of quiet, almost melancholic. It was the first sign that the "idol" life was starting to wear thin and that he was outgrowing the cage of 1D.
The Coachella of it All
There was also this weird cultural moment where Harry became the face of "Indie-Pop Harry." He wasn't even at Coachella in 2013, but his aesthetic—the headbands, the messy buns, the flannel shirts tied around the waist—became the unofficial uniform of the festival circuit. He was becoming a mood board.
Why the "Long Hair Era" Actually Mattered
It sounds superficial, but the hair growth of 2013 was a symbolic rebellion. Management supposedly wanted him to keep the "shorter, curly" look from the X-Factor days. He didn't. He let it grow. He started wearing the headbands. It was a small "f-you" to the corporate machine that controlled the band’s image.
It also signaled a shift in masculinity. In 2013, the "pretty boy" look was evolving into something more rugged and vintage. Harry was at the forefront of that. He made it cool for guys to care about high fashion while still maintaining a sort of "just rolled out of bed" rockstar energy.
The Famous Tattoos
A lot of his most iconic tattoos happened in 2013. The butterfly on his stomach? That was a 2013 addition. The ship on his arm? Same year. Each piece of ink felt like another layer of armor being added. He was literally changing his body in front of the world, moving away from the "clean-cut" image that Simon Cowell had built.
The Social Circle: From Pop Star to A-List
In 2013, Harry’s social circle changed. He stopped hanging out primarily with the band and started being seen with people like Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, and various members of the Fleetwood Mac family. He was networking his way into the upper echelons of the creative world.
He was learning.
He was absorbing how to be a legend, not just a celebrity. When he met Stevie Nicks for the first time (a relationship that would become legendary in later years), the seeds were being sown for his solo career. He was positioning himself as a student of the 70s rock era.
Misconceptions About 2013 Harry
A lot of people think 2013 was just "more of the same" for One Direction. It wasn't. It was the year the foundation cracked. Behind the scenes, the grueling schedule of the Take Me Home tour—over 130 shows across Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia—was taking a toll.
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- Fact: They were grossing millions, but Harry was often traveling separately or staying in different hotels.
- Fact: This was the year he started writing songs with people like Johan Carlsson and Savan Kotecha outside of the usual band sessions.
- Fact: The paparazzi were so aggressive that he actually had to take legal action later to prevent them from following him.
He wasn't just a happy-go-lucky teenager. He was a professional athlete of the pop world, navigating a level of fame that would have broken most people.
The Takeaway: How to Apply the 2013 Harry Strategy
If you’re looking at Harry Styles in 2013 as a case study in personal branding, there are actually a few things to learn. It’s not just about being a pretty face with a good voice. It’s about the "slow burn" of a transition.
- Pivot subtly. He didn't quit the band in 2013. He just started changing his clothes, his hair, and his friends. By the time he went solo years later, the audience was already primed for it.
- Silence is a tool. In an age of oversharing, 2013 Harry taught us that you don't have to explain yourself. Let the work (and the outfits) do the talking.
- Find your "uniform." Harry found the Saint Laurent silhouette and stuck to it. It made him instantly recognizable and gave him a "look" that felt timeless rather than trendy.
What to Do Next
If you want to understand the modern-day Harry Styles, you have to go back and watch the 2013 performances. Specifically, look at the band's performance of "Midnight Memories" on The X Factor UK that December. Watch Harry. He’s not doing the boy band choreography anymore. He’s prowling the stage.
- Listen to the Midnight Memories album with a focus on the tracks Harry co-wrote. It’s the blueprint for his solo debut.
- Look up the 2013 British Fashion Awards photos. It’s the exact moment he transitioned from "member of a group" to "global fashion icon."
- Check out the "Story of My Life" music video. Pay attention to the scenes in the darkroom. It’s the most authentic he looked all year.
The transition was messy, loud, and lived out in front of millions of people. But Harry Styles in 2013 was the year the boy became the man who would eventually take over the world. It’s the year the feather hat, the boots, and the rock-and-roll attitude finally clicked into place. If you missed it then, go back and look now. It’s all there in the photos. The skinny jeans, the messy hair, and the look of someone who knew exactly where he was going.