Introducing the super-stylist behind Nicholas Hoult’s hot boy summer
Or should that be "Hoult Boy Summer"?
NICHOLAS HOULT has emerged as one of the most stylish men on the red carpet this northern summer.
The 35-year-old British actor has been promoting Superman – and doing it in serious style.
On screen, Hoult channels one of comic book history’s most iconic villains – the cold, calculating Lex Luthor. But off screen, he’s been the unexpected hero of the film’s press tour.
Bleached hair, sleek tailoring and standout accessories have defined the latest style transformation for a leading man (see also: Daniel Craig; Brad Pitt) – one guided by renowned stylist Jason Bolden.
His style evolution began in New York on 30 June, where he wore a relaxed brown Tom Ford suit with an open jacket and beige T-shirt.
Later that day, he switched to a white tank and short-sleeved brown shirt, before stepping out in Celine jeans, a white vest and grey jumper tied around his torso – plus the now-recurring Prada Buckle bag.
In London, Hoult leaned further into his new signature.
He appeared in a characterful Prada jumper, plus linen trousers and chunky black lace-ups.
For the London premiere on 3 July, he changed gears again – a sharp striped suit by Bottega Veneta marked a return to classic tailoring.
The next day, he turned to a Burberry autumn/winter 2025 leather jacket, offering a more rugged, off-duty look.
Related: The heroic stylings of the Superman press tour
But it was in Los Angeles, at the film’s 7 July premiere, that Hoult sealed his style credentials – a black blazer, white shirt, striped tie, glasses, and black leather trousers. His platinum blond hair – first seen on the US chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the end of June – added a final statement.
A St Louis–born stylist, Jason Bolden is known for his clean, elevated aesthetic. After early stints at Oscar de la Renta and Gucci, he opened a vintage store in New York before launching his styling career in 2011.
His client list now includes Michael B. Jordan, Alicia Kays and Nicole Kidman, while the 2019 Netflix show Styling Hollywood with husband and work partner Adair Curtis brought him global recognition.
Now Hoult’s glow-up has only turned up the heat on that fame.
Here’s how they did it.
Esquire: Hello Jason. Congratulations on your work with Nicholas. He’s been causing quite the stir.
Jason Bolden: It’s pretty wild, right?
Was getting all this coverage the objective?
I think that’s always my objective. I’ve been coming off a lot of press tours, from Cynthia Erivo in Wicked to Michael B. Jordan in Sinners to Nicole Kidman in Babygirl. I’ve been non-stop. When it came down to Nicholas playing Lex, it just felt natural. I guess a lot of people don’t know this about Nicholas’ personality, but he is such a jokester at heart.
What do you mean?
I think fashion is supposed to be something in his life, because it’s just so natural. He puts the clothes on – he turns into “a fashion boy” very quickly. So, it was pretty easy. He was the perfect muse in that sense.
Was this your first time working together?
We just started. It’s been less than three months.
We suspect you’ll continue?
We’re like bona fide brothers now.
He’s clearly embraced the whole thing. I suppose how fully someone commits just depends on the client?
It really depends. One of the first things I learned very early on as being a stylist was you shouldn’t try to make robots, right? That’s the worst thing. My mentor [top Hollywood stylist] Jean Yang told me that a long time ago. She was like, ‘You have to fall into your aesthetic’. Every stylist should have an aesthetic. And then you try to merge that into your client and pull things out of them. Everyone’s different.
What about Nicholas?
He was a blank canvas, and he just wanted to go forward. He had no questions. He never knew what I was bringing to the fittings. He never asked a question about anything that I bought. We just tried things on.
Whose idea was the hair?
The hair was the perfect accident for this. Nicholas dyed his hair for a film that’s coming [likely 2026’s How To Rob A Bank, also starring Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai and Pete Davidson]. He was testing the hair. And we’re like, ‘Let’s just keep it’.
The hair seemed to be of a piece with his muscles and tank top.
I mean, that’s just him. It’s so annoying that he is just so fit.
Ha ha.
For that particular tank top moment, he was supposed to wear the Celine sweater over the top. And then we put the tank top on, and I was just kind of joking around tying the sweater around me. And I looked at him, and I was like, “Oh, you’ve got to show those guns.” And then I took the sweater off me and tied it around him. And that kind of set the world in a frenzy, yeah. The full all-white look came bout because it was just so hot in New York ,too. It was all Celine: the sweater, all the white. It was really the perfect moment. And he was jetting off to the airport as well, so it made so much sense.
When someone is doing a press tour, and going from location to location, do you have different outfits for different cities in mind?
We do a big fitting [at the start]. And Nicholas will tell you this if you ever talk to him… I normally wake up in the morning and [spontaneously] decide [has to dress a client]. I have an idea, right? I’m like that with all my clients. Once people get used to me, they know that. I’ll wake up and be like, “Wait, we should do this.” And for London, we wanted to do the Bottega, which was kind of that ode to the throwback of the Lexes of the past, right? [i.e. the pinstriped Gene Hackman of the original Superman film]. Now, sunglasses were a real big part of the villain side of him. But we stayed away from sunglasses because I also wanted people to identify Nicholas. And fall in love with those iceberg blue eyes, you know?
Tell us about all his amazing tailoring.
The magic about Nicholas is he literally just turned it all over to me. He was like, “You got it.” And, for me, tailoring is the most important thing, because tailoring becomes personal, right? It becomes very personal because it’s the fit of your body. And when you start [making alterations], it becomes even more customised. It becomes “How do you customise something that’s a runway look?” Because everything you’ve seen him in has been runway. So how do you customise it, to make it feel even more personal?
Does that include the Saint Laurent leather trousers he wore to the LA premiere?
Yeah. They’re quite something.
It’s been quite the transformation.
I know! Everybody’s like, “What?” I’m waking up [in the mornings and seeing the reaction] and being like, “Wait, him?” But I’m just doing what we wanted to do. It’s been so great. Who knew it would turn into this snowball? I’m like, “Oh, God. Every day it’s bigger and bigger.”
Big style moments only land when the actor genuinely seems to enjoy them – as he certainly seems to be.
Exactly. Yeah. He’s having such a good time. And a lot of the stuff is actually pure accident. Like the Prada look – the Prada look was an accident. We decided to wear that just that day. The Burberry look was something that I was like, “You know what? It’s hot. We’re going to be on the roof [of the Corinthia hotel]. He’s a British dude, let’s wear some Burberry.” Some of the things where people think they’re super calculated were just instinctual. “Day-of” things.
Has he got any particular favourites?
He loved the Prada look in London. He really loved that. That and the Celine look – the “travel look” to the airport – tank top and trousers. I think those are kind of where he landed.
We love the old-school Jaeger-LeCoultre wristwear, too.
Oh yeah. We played with those all throughout. A lot of people like to switch their jewellery. But I love to wear the same thing over and over. That way it feels very personal. It feels like it’s yours and you own it. He loves that brand. He wears it every day.
What else have you got up your sleeves? Is there more to come?
You’ll just have to wait and see.
This story originally appeared on Esquire UK.
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