From working at a bakery to becoming an international pop star, the twenty-six-year-old Harry Styles has had many amazing accomplishments in the past decade. Recently, he became the first man to ever grace the cover of Vogue magazine alone. Not only is that a major achievement for Styles, but he is also sending a message to his young and impressionable fans: clothes don’t have a gender. Styles’ Vogue cover will most likely become an iconic fashion moment. Styles in the blue dress, however, has become well-known for a more important reason—and not just because people thought the outfits were “interesting.” Many celebrities have previously defied gender norms, so why should Styles’ Vogue look become iconic while others don’t receive a fraction of his attention for their contributions?

Sure, it is possible that Harry Styles’ popularity contributed to the celebration of his Vogue cover, but other famous celebrities have broken traditional gender stereotypes in fashion too. Billy Porter. Jaden Smith. Pharrell Williams. Prince. These men have all fractured the long-withstanding gender barriers but never received the recognition for it that Styles has. In addition to crossing gender boundaries long before Harry Styles, these men are all people of color. Now, I’m not saying they haven’t been recognized at all, but none of them were ever as highly praised for their actions as Styles had been. When Styles’ cover was released, many praised him for the photoshoot and referred to him as a “pioneer,” an unsuitable for title as he certainly isn’t the first to challenge gender boundaries in the fashion industry.