Drew Starkey, ‘Queer’ Star & Loewe Muse, Is Fashion’s New Boyfriend

In the annals of Internet history, the news cycle hustles through fashion boyfriends faster than Samantha Jones at a Tribeca restaurant opening. One day it’s Pedro Pascal this, the next it’s Jacob Elordi that. But a new bombshell has entered the virtual villa, clad in Loewe: Drew Starkey. The Outer Banks actor seized the hearts of many Gen Z girls with Netflix accounts when the hit drama show first aired in 2020, but now he’s being introduced to a whole new set of fans with what some are calling his superstar-making role in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer. I’ve been tracking his fashion choices since the press junket for the film started, and he’s dutifully filling the role of all-American heartthrob turned fashion killer.

Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson did the costume design for Queer, so it’s only fitting that Starkey has not only attended two Loewe shows this year, but worn both custom and runway pieces for pretty much every appearance related to the movie. He’s not going for the more experimental looks Loewe is known for — and as his new highbrow role might imply — but rather leaning into his boyish charm with casual button-down shirts, baggy jeans, and more often than not, sneakers.

His red-carpet suits are still a work in progress: As much as we want straight men to dress in more relaxed suiting, it’s just in their DNA to wear tapered pants for some reason. The most successful was the brown Loewe suit worn at the New York Film Festival, leaning into the color of the season and finally wearing a wide-leg trouser. There’s a few things I’m certain of: Starkey will be in a Loewe campaign soon enough; he might make his high-fashion status official at the Met Gala next year (or The Oscars — too soon?); and his style is headed in the right direction enough to solidify him as a fashion boyfriend (on a scale from one to A$AP Rocky, he’s at a seven or so). Being a graduate of the Guadagnino School of Film doesn’t hurt, either.