Harry Styles has kicked off 2021 with a bang, releasing his new music video for Fine Lines track Treat People With Kindness.
The video features a starring role for Fleabag creator and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who teams up with the ex One Direction star for a dance-filled video.
Set in a glitzy nightclub, the video follows Harry’s crusade to break down gender roles, as he takes the female part in a dance with Phoebe, while both wear matching suits.
Let’s dance! Harry Styles has kicked off 2021 with a bang, releasing his new music video for Fine Lines track Treat People With Kindness which co-stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge
The video opens with Phoebe, playing the role of the nightclub owner, dressed in a white suit and vest, sitting at a desk and greeting a member of her team.
The action then moves downstairs to show Harry walking on stage in a sparkling jacket, taking on the traditionally female part of a club singer.
As the music kicks in, Harry shows off his moves while Phoebe dances her way down to the club, Martini in hand.
The two take to the stage together in the second half of the video, stripping off the jackets to reveal identical looks as they perform a choreographed routine.
Amazing: The video features a starring role for Fleabag creator and actress Phoebe, who teams up with the ex One Direction star for a dance-filled video
Boss: Set in a glitzy nightclub, the video follows Harry’s crusade to break down gender roles as Phoebe takes on the role of club owner
Performer: The action then moves downstairs to show Harry walking on stage in a sparkling jacket, taking on the traditionally female part of a club singer
The finale sees Phoebe dipping Harry before turning her head to deliver one of her infamous Fleabag-style looks to camera.
The video’s co-director Gabe Turner tweeted his excitement at the video finally being released on Friday, revealing they shot it at the beginning of 2020.
‘Didn’t realize how lucky we were to experience this at the time! Harry & Phoebe – an absolute career highlight! Fitting that it goes out today hoping that in 2021 we can return to some kind of normal. #TPWK,’ the director posted.
Star of the show: As the music kicks in, Harry shows off his moves in his sparkling look
Here she comes: Phoebe meanwhile dances her way down to the club, Martini in hand
It’s not the first foray into music videos for Phoebe either. The multi-talented star recently directed Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Savior Complex’ video.
Harry’s video gained almost half a million views in its first two hours, while fans flooded Twitter with praise for Harry’s dance skills, Phoebe’s appearance and the subtle messaging.
‘Thank you for waking up in this way and starting 2021 like this’ one over-excited fan wrote.
Shall we dance? Harry crowd surfs over to Pheobe’s table and asks her to dance
‘Harry styles dancing on the first day of 2021? Instantly making the year better,’ agreed another.
Another added their praise for Harry’s use of gender roles, explaining: ‘Harry broke every stereotype! Wore clothes which don’t have a gender, and the man was dipped instead of the woman!!’
Late last year Harry posed for Variety magazine’s 2020 Hitmakers Issue and spoke out about his choice to wear ‘female’ clothing, the ‘blurred lines’ of gender, and the reaction to his previous cover for U.S Vogue which saw him don a dress.
Matching: The two take to the stage together in the second half of the video, stripping off the jackets to reveal identical looks
They’ve got moves: The two perform an amazing choreographed routine
Putting on a show: Backing dancers dressed in tuxes help out with the dance
Harry told Variety: ‘To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut off a whole world of great clothes.
‘And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.’
Harry made history as the first ever solo male cover star of the American version of Vogue – and for the occasion he opted to shake things up with his sartorial choices, donning a ball gown and a custom jacket.
Harry openly mocked the Candace Owens controversy surrounding his Vogue cover, posting one of the Variety shoot images to Instagram, alongside the tongue in cheek caption ‘bring back manly men’.
He’s a hit: The video gained almost half a million views in its first two hours, while fans flooded Twitter with praise
Finally out there: The video’s co-director Gabe Turner tweeted his excitement at the video finally being released on Friday, revealing they shot it at the beginning of 2020
Wow: The finale sees Phoebe dipping Harry before turning her head to deliver one of her infamous Fleabag-style looks to camera
The quote directly referenced conservative commentator Owens’ claims that ‘no society can survive without strong men’ after taking offence to his controversial Vogue cover shoot.
Owens tweeted at the time: ‘There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this.
‘In the west, the steady feminisation of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack. Bring back manly men.
What a start to the year: ‘Thank you for waking up in this way and starting 2021 like this’ one over-excited fan wrote on Twitter
After making her initial comments, Owens doubled down on her criticism.
In what she described as ‘the steady feminization of our men’, in a thread of tweets she addressed the controversy her comments have since provoked and sought also to reiterate her stance on the matter.
‘Since I’m trending I’d like to clarify what I meant when I said ‘bring back manly men’,’ she wrote in response to the backlash Monday. ‘I meant: Bring back manly men.
‘Terms like ‘toxic masculinity’, were created by toxic females. Real women don’t do fake feminism,’ she continued. ‘Sorry I’m not sorry.
Praise: Others added their praise for Harry’s use of gender roles, with one declaring: ‘Harry broke every stereotype!’