How Harry Styles got millions of young fans to learn how to knit

Unless you live under a rock, you know Harry Styles is one of the most influential people in fashion right now. After leaving the world-famous band One Direction, where all of his outfits were planned and controlled, Styles started to venture out and experiment more with his fashion. He started working with Gucci and eventually became close friends with Alessandro Michele, which of course has its perks.

On his last world tour, Styles had a new elaborate suit for every night of his 90 show tour, some of which included custom Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Valentino. Styles is known for his elaborate style which is what gave him the honor of hosting the 2019 MET Gala. Styles is known to play with color and texture and he isn’t afraid of wearing traditionally “feminine” pieces, which is one thing so many love about him.

In February this year, before COVID-19 hit hard in the U.S., Harry performed at the Today Show in New York City. During soundcheck for the show, he came out in a one of a kind JW Anderson cardigan that blew fans minds. It was hand knitted with so many different colors and textures, and fans were immediately in love with it. Shortly after the concert when quarantine hit America, many were without jobs, out of school and had entirely too much free time on their hands and thought "what better to do than to knit this cardigan?"

It started with a few TikToks and YouTube videos of people who already knew how to knit making the cardigan, but over the past few months, it has become a viral sensation on the Harry Styles side of TikTok. So many of my friends have made the cardigan or had one made for them, and me being the number one Harry Styles stan, decided I needed to have that experience for myself! I recently went to Joann’s Fabrics and bought all the materials I needed to get started. There are endless tutorials on YouTube to follow that show you how to make every square and how to stitch them together. After seeing all the love surrounding the cardigan, JW Anderson was kind enough to release the pattern they used to make Styles’ cardigan so that fans could have the most accurate replica.

As someone who has never tried knitting before, quite frankly, I’m terrified to mess it up, but the thought of having one of these beautiful cardigans that I made makes it all seem worth it. I'm hoping that with an extra-long winter break I'll be able to have the cardigan done by Christmas-time! Updates to come, but wish me luck! I’m gonna need it!

TPWK!