What is a rockstar? To try and define the term is to invite disagreement. Purists might claim a rockstar is exactly that, a star of rock & roll music. They may argue that Kurt Cobain was the last real rockstar. They may insist that it’s been even longer since the last true rockstar graced the stage.

Frankly, the traditionalist approach to rockstardom has been pretty shortsighted and boring. Over the last few decades, the term has evolved to mean something beyond its basic definition. To call someone a rockstar is to say that they are doing something wholly unique. It has transcended rock & roll, it has transcended music even, to encapsulate a larger-than-life persona and bravado. It is intangible. There is an edge to the term, an element of irreverence or rebellion that separates it from the mainstream, yet simultaneously endears you to it. Rockstars should be polarizing. They should be taking risks, and they should be ridiculed as much as they are celebrated. By its very nature, a rockstar is a moving target, striving towards some nebulous cultural apex. For the term to have any sort of fixed definition would be a farce to what rockstardom is all about.

So what does the modern rockstar look like then? We think the phrase encapsulates a lot. From Harry Styles to Travis Scott, Virgil Abloh to Mike Amiri. Willow Smith to Billie Eilish. Lil Nas X. Travis Barker. We attribute rockstardom with anyone who is pushing culture forward in some new and important way. One of the biggest differences between the modern rockstar and those of the past is a blurring of the aesthetic lines. A ‘look’ will always be part of the rockstar ethos, but as the term evolves to encompass more and more facets of society there will be less and less singularity in what that look is. Sure, there are elements of rockstar style that remain celebrated: a classic leather jacket, a vintage tee, a worn out skinny jean, but you wouldn’t put it past a true rockstar to zig where others zag. The rockstar look is as much about subversion as it is aesthetics.

The final answer might just be that we don’t know, but we know it when we see it. To pin a rockstar down any more than that would be an affront to their very nature. Be wary of anyone that attempts to define a rockstar solely by tangible things. To be chasing a specific look is in itself not very rockstar-ish. At the end of the day, the most rockstar thing you can do is be uniquely yourself.