Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin has a theory about the type of men that women are attracted to. Far from the idealised jock-style heartthrobs that have always been heralded as pin-ups, she says that the sex appeal of stars like Elvis, Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles proves that what young women really want is men who subvert gender norms.
“When Elvis was young, he wore make-up and dressed in pink and lace shirts but he was undeniably masculine,” she tells me over the phone. “It’s an interesting exploration of gender and what appeals to teenage girls. When you look at Elvis when he was young, or David Cassidy, or K-Pop bands right now, this blur between the masculine and feminine is immediately attractive to adolescents.”
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