Harry Styles proves the heartthrob is dead: long live the artthrob

This week, Another Man magazine unveiled three separate covers for their upcoming issue, scheduled to drop on 29 September. The kicker? Each cover features Harry Styles in a different hairstyle, channeling everyone from Mick Jagger in the mid-1960s to Harry himself in 2015. In each, his eye contact is steady, the pieces worn are high fashion (those chokers!), and he’s clearly revelling in a context that couldn’t be further from his One Direction past.

Styles is not just a teen dream any more. And for that we should all be thankful, particularly if we want him to succeed as a solo star or as a grown-ass man. While the end of last year was defined by 1D’s last gasp (soundtracked by songs about hotel room romps or strolls down memory lane), the band quickly slid into irrelevance as they reined in their availability.

I mean, sure, Liam Payne gave into the industry’s zest for thirst trap photos and Louis Tomlinson showcased his new relationship with Danielle Campbell, but without new music, their efforts seemed empty. That made sense. Because as solo stars like Drake, Shawn Mendes, and even Zayn began using a combination of their emotional vulnerability with an OTT work ethic as a form of pop culture currency, it wasn’t enough to merely be seen or to show off. To win hearts in 2016, you now have to offer artistic value. And you have to hustle.

Which means that relevance no longer hinges on aesthetics alone. While Payne was following the lead of Justin Bieber post-Purpose (and the brief Instagram offerings of a super-fit Aubrey Graham), the latter quickly doubled down on their creative endeavours while retooling the way they wanted to be seen. Before deleting his account in August, Bieber appeared nude – from behind – in several Instagram photos, but peppered his captions with philosophy and an appreciation for nature and animals, before he started refusing selfies and fan photos altogether. Meanwhile, Drake began touring alongside Rihanna, snagging a No 1 spot for Views before releasing a 23-minute short film that exhibited his talent as both a hip-hop artist and an actor.

And they weren’t the only ones: Shawn Mendes issued hit after hit as 2016 unfolded, the Weeknd collaborated with Daft Punk to announce the dawn of a new day, Nick Jonas released a new album while starring in Scream Queens and Justin Timberlake – the boy band vet – spent his summer promoting that godforsaken song for Trolls (a movie slated to come out in 2042, give or take a decade). Hell, even Backstreet Boys – the original thirst trappers – announced plans for a Las Vegas residency, further proving their own affinity for working hard.

Which isn’t to say that anyone needs to cover up or scale back the divulging of personal information to maintain a foothold at the top of pop culture. But as 2016 progressed, staying in the game became a question of offering more, and offering it differently. Where the success of 90s, 00s, and even 2010s-era male heartthrobs hinged on their ability to couple easily digestible music with glossy mag-appropriate abs, the accessibility of artists via social media erased the mystery that once helped to make them so alluring.

Thanks to Instagram and Snapchat, we already know who’s at the gym, what time and what they’re wearing while they’re there. We know if they can’t sleep, or if they’re feeling their new haircuts, or if they’re proud of their workout results. We even know how hard they may (or may not) be working. Which means their professional spreads – like Harry’s Another Man cover, or Zayn’s Fader feature – have to offer something other than token shirtlessness. Especially because we’ve seen it before and we know how it works. (And because we have movies like Magic Mike that take the Shirtless Dude™ narrative and explore and invert it brilliantly.)

Which brings us back to Styles. While he’s already cast off his identity as a member of One Direction (thanks to his upcoming turn in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and impending solo album), it’s important to note that he opted to make his post-band debut through experimental means. We see him in wigs. We see him cosplaying Mick Jagger. We see him in chokers, embracing the 90s resurgence and offering a nod to the BDSM community. And we also notice that out of every magazine, he’s opted for a niche publication, telegraphing an allegiance to the niche worlds of art and fashion rather than aiming for mainstream notoriety.

Heartthrobs are getting weirder – and that’s exciting. In the 1990s and 2000s, it was rare to see artists outside their teen pop, Tiger Beat realm. They were safely heteronormative (sometimes closeted), keeping a wary distance between the fans and their real lives. Last year, artists were still struggling to redefine what heartthrob meant, peppering our feeds with abs and pecs. And while I’ll support any artist taking their top off whenever they want to, it’s much more interesting when that vibe goes hand in hand with an overt dedication to their art, a celebration of their hustle and creativity, and the feeling that these guys are doing exactly what they want to be doing.

So: all hail the artthrob. Master of his own destiny.

• This article was corrected on 27 September; Harry Styles is wearing his own hair, not wigs, on the cover of Another Man.