A man received a compliment from Harry Styles on his outfit while out and about in London. But there was one major twist. The man had no idea who Styles was.
Darnell Davis was walking down a street in central London last Sunday after his morning stroll in Regents Park when a fellow pedestrian complimented his outfit.
“I like your fit,” the person said to Davis.
Davis initially thought the person was being rude but quickly realized what he said.
"I was flattered. I was like, 'Thanks very much'," Davis told USA TODAY Thurday. "I'm all about sharing positivity so I was like 'You looking fly too!'”
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The two then started chatting and were mid-conversation when a woman behind them started screaming and asking for a picture.
Thinking the woman too liked his outfit and wanted a picture, Davis responded to her with a "Sure," to which the woman said she wanted a picture with the guy he was talking to. Confused, Davis stepped aside and let the two snap a picture. Minutes later, they were swarmed by a group of people who were excitedly taking pictures with Davis' new acquaintance, further baffling him.
Amidst the frenzy of photographs and shrieks, Davis, leaned over to his acquaintance and asked him: "Who are you?"
"A singer," the person replied. Given the excitement around him, Davis was prompted to probe further and asked him his name.
Turns out the person who Davis had been having a casual conversation with was singer and popstar Harry Styles. However, the name still didn't click with Davis, who then stepped aside to quickly Google him.
"The first thing I saw when I Googled was singer, and [then] I saw my mother's birthday," Davis said, explaining his mother and Styles both share the same birthdate of Feb. 1. "And that's when it just got really emotional."
Davis, 49, a former personal trainer turned writer from Miami Beach, Florida lost his mother when he was only 10 years old. Ever since then, he has a daily ritual where he takes out a few minutes in the morning to have spiritual conversations with his late Mom and God usually near the ocean. Since London does not have any oceans close by, Davis, who was visiting the city, had walked to Regents Park that day for his morning routine.
"I just really feel connected with her there," Davis said. "We had a beautiful conversation, and I said, 'Mom, please just let me meet the people that are supposed to take me towards where I am supposed to be in life.'"
Davis said he was "feeling great" after the conversation and took a few pictures of himself in the outfit because he looked "cute" before walking on towards the street where he had the chance encounter with Styles, which he described as a "cosmic twist" in his post on Instagram.
"[It was] a beautiful, divine moment that just happened," Davis said.
As for the outfit, Davis told USA TODAY he may have picked up the printed two-piece from Mexico. The writer said he does not have a favorite brand or shop where he gets his clothes from but just picks up "whatever catches his eye" whether its online or during his travels around the world.
"Your art is your expression of how you see yourself and that's what dressing, that's what fashion is for me," Davis, who currently writing a book on self-love, said. "I don't play any instruments. I'm not artistic in that sense, but my body and my what I put on, is (an) expression of who I am."
It comes as no surprise that ever since that encounter, Davis has been listening to Styles on repeat and vibing with his music. But which Harry Styles song is his favorite?
"Treat People with Kindness," says Davis. "Because that's how me and Harry met. He was just being kind to me. I was being kind back to him, and something phenomenal happened from it."
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
