Pretty Boy Joy: A Gender-Fluid Fashion Editorial

Pretty Boy Joy gender-fluid fashion editorial featuring a Black male model in a hat, white shirt and jewelry

Pretty Boy Joy is a gender-fluid fashion editorial that explores masculine softness, self-defined beauty and the freedom to dress beyond fixed conventions.

Pretty Boy Joy gender-fluid fashion editorial featuring a Black male model in a hat, white shirt and jewelry
Pretty Boy Joy — photography by Phil Halfmann, creative direction and styling by Sophia Lenore.

Fashion can reinforce familiar ideas about masculinity and femininity—or make space for something more personal. In Pretty Boy Joy, tailored suits, relaxed sportswear, vivid color, makeup and jewelry belong to one visual language. None of these details has to define the person wearing them.

Across 31 portraits and eight wardrobe directions, model Troy moves between composure, vulnerability, strength and play. The story treats gender expression not as a spectacle but as an everyday form of authorship: the right to decide how you appear and how you are seen.

Tailoring Without the Old Rules

The opening looks use recognizable menswear codes—white shirting, formal shoes and structured tailoring—then soften them through pink trousers, jewelry, makeup and an unguarded presence. The contrast is deliberate. Confidence does not require emotional distance, and elegance does not belong to one gender.

Black male model wearing pink trousers and a white shirt in the Pretty Boy Joy gender-fluid fashion editorial
Seated portrait of a Black male model in pink trousers and a white shirt
Black male model styled with pink trousers, a white shirt and jewelry
Expressive fashion portrait from the Pretty Boy Joy editorial
Beauty close-up of a Black male model in a white shirt and jewelry

A blue suit continues that conversation through posture and detail. The silhouette is conventional; the expression is intimate. Jewelry and beauty styling do not undermine the tailoring. They complete it.

Black male model seated in a blue suit with statement jewelry
Blue suit portrait exploring masculine softness and personal style
Beauty close-up with blue suit, white shirt and jewelry
Tailored blue suit look from the Pretty Boy Joy fashion story
Black suit and hat portrait from a gender-fluid fashion editorial

Masculine Softness in Motion

Sportswear changes the rhythm of the editorial. Grey and blue tracksuits allow the body to rest, stretch and occupy space without performance. These portraits propose a broader kind of masculinity—one that can include tenderness, ornament and ease alongside physical strength.

Black male model reclining in a grey tracksuit and white sneakers
Grey tracksuit portrait combining athleisure and statement jewelry
Relaxed grey tracksuit pose in a minimalist studio setting
Close-up portrait with a grey tracksuit and layered jewelry
Black male model standing in a blue tracksuit and white sneakers
Blue athleisure portrait from the Pretty Boy Joy editorial
Studio fashion portrait in a blue tracksuit and jewelry

This tension between athletic clothing and expressive beauty also connects with Strength in Motion, another fashion story in which movement and styling shape the narrative.

Color as Self-Expression

The yellow mesh top is the editorial’s most direct interruption of convention. Its transparency, color and close fit make visibility part of the image. Paired with grey denim and black boots, the look feels grounded rather than theatrical.

Black male model in a yellow mesh top, grey jeans and black boots
Yellow mesh fashion portrait celebrating confident self-expression
Seated portrait in a yellow mesh top and statement jewelry

The pale blue shirt and white trousers turn toward calm. Here, fluid gender expression is quiet: relaxed tailoring, jewelry, a hat and the confidence to be seen without exaggeration.

Blue shirt and white trousers look from Pretty Boy Joy
Relaxed seated portrait in a blue shirt, white trousers and jewelry
Gender-fluid editorial styling with a blue shirt and white trousers
Black male model seated in a blue shirt and white trousers
Beauty close-up with a blue shirt and layered jewelry
Close-up portrait in a blue shirt, black hat and jewelry

Beauty Beyond a Gender Binary

The final monochrome portraits bring attention to face, makeup and jewelry. They reject the assumption that beauty styling makes a man less masculine. Instead, the images ask a more useful question: why should confidence, softness or ornament need a gender at all?

Black male model in a black-and-white sweater, hat and jewelry
Close-up with a monochrome sweater, hat and sunglasses
Beauty portrait exploring confidence beyond gender conventions
Monochrome fashion portrait from Pretty Boy Joy
Final close-up from the Pretty Boy Joy gender-fluid fashion editorial

That same commitment to identity-led image-making appears in Locks of Beauty, while The Exhibitionist explores a more theatrical form of self-presentation. Readers interested in the production side can also see our guide to getting a fashion editorial published.

Pretty Boy Joy: The Creative Team

  • Photographer: Phil Halfmann
  • Creative director, wardrobe stylist and hair stylist: Sophia Lenore
  • Makeup artist: Aida
  • Model: Troy

Wardrobe: Calvin Klein, Coach, Dr. Martens, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph Lauren, Prada and Puma. Jewelry by Konplott. Makeup by Charlotte Tilbury, hair products by L’Oréal and nail products by USLU Airlines.

Explore More Fashion Editorials

Discover more image-led stories in our fashion archive, including the sculptural styling of Avant-Garde Fashion Editorial: 12 Bold Looks.

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