Zayn Malik

A rising fashion icon in his own right, Zain “Zayn” Malik has been dubbed by Donatella Versace as one of her newest icons. Indeed, the singer is increasingly leaving his mark on fashion, sitting front-row at the world’s biggest fashion houses including Louis Vuitton and Valentino and gracing the covers of Paper, Interview, and Dazed Magazine.

Born to an English mother and British Pakistani father in Bradford, Malik was raised with his three sisters. In 2010, Malik auditioned as a solo artist for the British version of reality television series, The X Factor, in which he was eliminated before the show’s final round, but quickly brought back to form boy band One Direction, alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne.

With One Direction, Malik rose to international success, topping charts and winning a slew of prizes, including six Brit Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, seven American Music Awards and nineteen Teen Choice Awards. The band’s 2014 ‘Where We Are Tour’ was one of the highest-grossing concert tours ever by a vocal group, generating $282 million.

On 25 March 2015, Malik announced he would be leaving One Direction as a result of creative and musical differences. In July 2015, he signed a solo recording contract with RCA Records, skyrocketing the singer-songwriter's solo career, as his debut album ‘Mind of Mine’ (2016) and its lead single"‘Pillow Talk" made its way to number one in the US and UK charts.

Together with on-and-off model girlfriend Gigi Hadid , Malik appeared in the May 2016 issue of American Vogue in a fashion spread shot by Mario Testino. On the red carpet of the 2016 Met Gala, Malik, accompanied by Hadid, wore a Versace suit fitted with an armour sleeve. That same year, he signed a collaboration with shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti.

In October 2016, it was announced Malik would design a line for Versus Versace dubbed Zayn X Versus. The capsule collection of men’s and women’s clothing was presented to buyers and the media in the spring and later, in May, was available in Versus stores and online. It was also announced he would become the face of Versus' advertising campaigns.