Tracking the Rise of Harrison Ford’s Vintage Style
The year 2020 has been defined by unexpected things happening, almost all of them bad. However, one totally unexpected occurrence that has delighted me is the rise of 1970s/80s Harrison Ford: Fashion Icon. Ford has always been revered for his swagger but his personal style remained predominantly overlooked until this year. His breakthrough role came in 1973’s American Graffiti, directed by scrappy up-and-comer George Lucas. In a film that revolved around 1950’s car culture, Ford played the guy with the coolest car while rocking a cowboy hat.
When Lucas was casting his space-western hero’s journey four years later, Ford was chosen over several notable actors to play Star Wars’ anti-hero Han Solo. The space-hotrod driving, smuggler cowboy instantly became the coolest character in the history of sci-fi. Lucas and Ford teamed up again four years later, this time with Steven Spielberg, and redefined our popular conception of archeology forever. Indiana Jones was so badass that he has inspired generations of college students to take archeology classes, only to be sorely disappointed when they learn the reality of archeology (yup, I did that).
Raiders of the Lost Ark not only put another blockbuster under Ford’s belt, it also cemented him as one of the coolest leading men in Hollywood. While he has firmly held that title for four decades now, why has Ford’s style never been widely recognized? Revelry has always been placed on contemporaries like Robert Redford, Richard Gere, and Pierce Brosnan. Before we figure how we’ve overlooked Ford’s nonchalant swagger for so long, lets analyze how it seemingly popped up out of nowhere a few months back.