Metal Fashion Mad: When Rock And Modelling Collide

Metallica's Lars Ulrich wears Brioni

You may have noticed that fashion house Brioni have teamed up with Metallica to sell some very sharp suits. But it’s not the first time rock has dipped a toe into the fashion world, though. Here’s nine other rock stars who became well-groomed muses…

Marilyn Manson for Saint Laurent

Back in 2013, acclaimed designer and photographer Hedi Slimane – then the creative director for Saint Laurent – chose the God of Fuck himself as the face of the label’s Autumn/Winter menswear campaign. Manson took to the job with aplomb, looking suitably creepy-sexy in the resulting pictures. Slimane also roped Kim Gordon, Courtney Love and Ariel Pink into modelling for Saint Laurent that year, in what was one of the most notable cases of rock meeting fashion.

Henry Rollins for GAP and Calvin Klein

Hardcore purists hated the idea of the Rollins modelling a black T-shirt and a furious scowl for Gap in the early 90s. He, however, gave no fucks. “As far as someone saying that I am selling out; I work for a living,” he remarked. “I don’t live with my parents any more. What you think of what I do is really of no consequence to me, my actions or plotted course.” Update: he’s also recently become a model for Calvin Klein’s latest campaign. As ever, no fucks given.

Jared Leto for Hugo Boss

We weren’t entirely surprised to see the Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman pop up in a few Boss ads. Here he is advertising Hugo Red, “the daring new fragrance for men featuring Jared Leto”. We’re not entirely sure if the smell has an essence of arena rock or not. He’s also started his own fashion merch which he models on his Instagram page.

You Me At Six’s Cheer Up Clothing

Matt Barnes, bass player for You Me At Six, founded Cheer Up Clothing nine years ago with his pal Edward Thomas, and their range of casual tees, backpacks and beanies has grown a small following ever since. Matt can often be found on the website modelling shirts like Surrey’s very own Zoolander.

Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry for Paco Rabanne

As far as celebrity-endorsed perfumes go, Paco Rabanne’s Black XS Be A Legend was definitely aiming for classy as opposed to hastily-marketed stocking filler. Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry fronted the campaign for the men’s and women’s fragrance respectively, with Debbie telling Vogue at the time that not only was Iggy her modelling pal, he was “so much a part of Blondie’s ongoing and becoming; He gave us our first real tour: it was just a great experience.”

Hayley Williams’ GoodDYEYoung hair dye

Earlier this year, the neon-headed Paramore frontwoman announced her vegan and cruelty-free hair dye range, GoodDYEYoung. Rather than modelling all the shades herself (that would be a lot of hair washing) Hayley uses models for the vibrant, skate-inspired lookbook. She does know a thing about dying hair, though – we’ve lost count of the colours she’s had over the years.

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Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B clothing line and Urban Decay collaboration

The ex-No Doubt frontwoman-turned-solo star gets a double entry here. She started her fashion line, L.A.M.B (that’s an acronym of the name of her first solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby) thirteen years ago, as well as a sister collection, Harajuku Lovers, which features a lot of perfumes in cutesy, anime-inspired bottles. This year, she’s put her name to a make-up range from Urban Decay, which, predictably, features some very bright lipsticks.

Jason Butler’s Gentlemen In Real Life

The latest musician to throw their hat into the fashion ring is letlive.’s Jason Aalon Butler. He can often be seen on his Instagram sporting garms from his new lifestyle brand, Gentlemen In Real Life, which sells everything the dapper dude needs – crisp t-shirts, beard oils, leather belts and a good, classic-looking watch. Perfect when you want to cut a dash while throwing yourself from a 10’ speaker tower.

Metallica model Brioni menswear in Bohemian Rhapsody-inspired photoshoot