Liam Payne defends Harry Styles’ fashion choice for Vogue cover: ‘He’s free to do as he wishes’

Liam Payne has defended Harry Styles after his former One Direction bandmate wore a dress on the cover of Vogue.

For the history-making December cover, which saw Styles become the first man to appear solo on the fashion magazine’s cover, the Watermelon Sugar singer wore a pale blue lace Gucci ball gown and black tuxedo jacket.

In the accompanying interview, Styles discussed the topic of gendered clothing, as well as the purpose of clothes, telling the magazine: “Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with.”

The cover prompted a range of reactions, with many applauding the One Direction singer for his fashion choice while others criticised the outfit, with conservative commentator Candace Owens calling the cover an “outright attack” and stating that society should “bring back manly men”.

However, according to Payne, the cover was “great” - and the criticism was unwarranted.

Appearing on Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp, where the 27-year-old was asked about the cover, he said he “thought it was great”.

“I think he's enjoying himself and he's free to do as he wishes," Payne continued, according to Entertainment Tonight. "And, you know, I just think that people don't need to be so bothered about stuff. There's been a lot more stuff going on this year than whether or not he’s wearing the right clothes in someone else’s mind."

The singer also took the opportunity to applaud Styles for being authentic and true to himself despite his fame.

"He's never really lost himself, even in spite of everything," he continued. "After the band we didn't speak for a long time, actually, and then I remember seeing him, it was actually at a Jingle Bell Ball, backstage for the first time in a long time. He's still the same guy he always was when we left each other in that dressing room as the band kind of stopped for a little bit."

Payne is not the only celebrity to publicly praise the Vogue cover. Following the backlash, numerous other stars including Olivia Wilde, Elijah Wood and Zach Braff all shared their support for Styles.

During the interview, Payne also touched on a possible One Direction reunion, telling a fan who asked about the possibility that he “definitely thinks in the future there is time for it”.

“But I think everyone is enjoying doing their own solo stuff for right now,” he continued, adding: “We’ve spoken a lot more over the time of covid, I’d say more than any other time we’ve spoken before, which has been great, but yeah, sometime in the future I’m sure.”