The Heartstopper Boys Are Gen Z’s Next Menswear Stars

For his part, Connor, who plays earnest rugby star Nick Nelson on the series, wore a glittering blue polo shirt and matching black trousers by Loewe. (Connor’s a friend of the brand, and he’s attended a few of designer Jonathan Anderson’s shows across several fashion weeks.) Locke, who portrays soft-spoken protagonist Charlie Spring, wore a Valentino shorts-suit set in the brand’s signature neon fuschia—which has been a celeb-favorite menswear swerve these last few years, as seen on Hollywood guy Sebastian Stan or Zoomer musician Conan Gray—offset with burgundy loafers and socks. And then there’s Will Gao, known as brooding Tao Xu on the show, in a crafty lace-trimmed Bode suit over a breezy wide-collared shirt that, according to our British GQ brethren, placed him squarely into “full Haunted Victorian Schoolchild mode.” Each of the three is rocking their own distinct shade of heartthrob, be it glitzy, sporty, colorful, or moody—which, in the long, stodgy arc of menswear—is already progress enough.