MIKEY WEARS BOMBER JACKET BY DSQUARED2, SHIRT BY MCQ, JEANS BY CHEAP MONDAY OLLY WEARS JACKET BY TOPMAN DESIGN, TURTLE NECK BY TOPMAN DESIGN, JEANS BY MCQ EMRE WEARS JUMPER BY CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN, JEANS BY CHEAP MONDAY TOYS AVAILABLE AT HAMLEYS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD STOW / CREATIVE DIRECTION BY JOSEPH KOCHARIAN
The Wonder Years
IT’S BEEN A TREMENDOUS year for Olly Alexander and his Years and Years band mates, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen. After building themselves a solid fanbase of loyal fans, the band shot into the stratosphere when their perfect pop single King hit the top of the charts earlier this year. The single Shine followed as a slick summer anthem before album Communion gave them another Number 1, becoming one of the year’s fastest selling debuts. Their music fuses elements of electro pop, classic house and R&B with insanely catchy hooks and refreshingly honest lyrics. Featuring songs written by Olly casually singing about boys, it was a deserving recipient of Attitude’s UK Album of the Year at our annual awards and was a top ten hit across the world. Along with his relationship with Clean Bandit star Neil Amin-Smith playing out in the media like that of other twentysomething celebrities, if you are looking for a figure in popular culture who most fittingly symbolises what it means to be young, gay and British in 2015, look no further than Mr Alexander.