Pinpointing the exact moment Jonah Hill become a fashion icon

Actor, director, screenwriter, comedian – it’s safe to say that Jonah Hill is a man of many talents. But there’s also more to the 34-year-old California-native than the ins-and-outs of his on-screen and behind-camera stagecraft. Hill is an unofficial ambassador for the streetwear community, delivering low-key sartorial shoutouts that give less of a sense that he’s hired himself a particularly good stylist than prove that he just knows his shit. As with most things, though, it hasn’t always been the case. So how did we get here?

VARIOUS, EARLY 2015

While the tabloid focus on Hill still often remains on the extremely relatable yet totally spurious question of his ever-fluctuating weight, there’s a bigger take to be had from paparazzi photos taken only three years past. That is to say, not so long ago, Jonah Hill wasn’t so much a budding darling of the hypebeast community as dressing like someone either eight years too late to his audition as a Sopranos extra, or something like a harassed airport dad already dressed for his once-yearly family holiday to Havana.

Verdict: Semi-open-shirted Jonah Hill is probably the Jonah Hill we deserve – but as the next years showed, he was capable of so much more.

MARCH 5 2016, WEARING PALACE ON SNL

What 2015 Jonah did give us, though, was the perfect set-up for a fashion plot twist no one saw coming. Hosting the 14th episode of SNL’s 41st season, gripping hold of a double cup, Hill turned out representing not some high-end mainstream brand but nonchalantly brought the understated yet unmistakable Tri-Ferg of London’s Palace Skateboards to a viewing audience of millions.

It may not have been the first time that Hill had been spotted supporting the brand, but taking that onto the set of one the biggest shows on TV was a solid indicator of a commitment to streetwear love and the beginnings of something truly beautiful. Strange, isn’t it, what impact a simple black t-shirt can have. Brings a tear to the eye.

Verdict: As ever with any M Night Shyamalan-level turn, in retrospect, there were clues that something may have been afoot. But Jonah Hill repping a cult London skate brand yet to penetrate the US mainstream on one of the biggest world media stages was considerably less predictable than Bruce Willis becoming a superhero or turning out to have been dead for the duration. The world (ok, the world of streetwear Twitter memes) took note. 

JULY 5 2016, JONAH HILL FOR PALACE X REEBOK

If the purity of Jonah’s love for Palace was still in question at this point, then that question was answered when the actor appeared in the skate brand’s video for the 2016 Reebok collaboration – a 2:04 film debuted right here on Dazed that somehow has everything from high-quality bestiality references to partial nudity and a tongue planted so firmly in cheek that it’s practically a piercing. Delicious. “I actually had to leave the room for a couple of shots or look away a lot of the time because I couldn’t stop laughing,” Palace founder Lev Tanju told us. “It was really easy to be honest, he just bopped in and nailed it straight away.” If you needed any more proof that Jonah was like, dead into Palace, he made another appearance in 2017 – despite the fact he doesn’t “need to be doing these stupid little skateboard advertisements for fucking stickers.”

Verdict: This video really does beg the question of why every advert doesn’t make mention of the joys of fucking a white tiger on your birthday. Jonah cemented his rep as a guy who knows his Reeboks from his Reeboakes. Kind of. 

ALL OF 2017, JONAH HILL FIT WATCH 2K17

The apex of Hill’s pivot to streetwear though, surely comes at the hands of sadly defunct website turned god-tier Twitter account Four Pins, self-described with charming complexity as a feed dedicated to “Dudes wearing clothes on the internet.”

Even a cursory “Four Pins Jonah Hill” search of the platform, then, tells you pretty much everything you need to know about how quickly and how deeply this love blossomed with “jonah hill fit watch 2k17” feeding the addictions of Four Pins’ near-600,000 followers with constant updates on everything from tank tops to boxing attire in the year of our lord 2017. Seriously, if Jonah wore it, Four Pins tweeted it.

Verdict: Voyeurism doesn’t have to be seedy and successfully stalking Jonah Hill can be achieved from the comfort of your own home. The real take here though is the seemingly universal realisation that “Fashion Jonah Hill” was more than a meme at the actor’s expense or fodder for the internet’s worst comments section, proving that his fit game was not only consistent but consistently on point – proof, if it was necessary, that his streetwear credentials were legit.

APRIL 2017, SMOKING... IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

This picture of JH in (guess what) Palace with a fag in his mouth is great in lots of ways. The fact he looks (I’m told) like a guy from Tinder who works as a graphic designer in Shoreditch and loves nothing more than to have a pint and a kickabout with the lads on the weekend. The fact that’s an actual cigarette not a vape. The fact he’s like, way ahead of the football fandom trend that’s apparently – groan – #sweeping fashion. It’s a defining Jonah Hill style moment, and particularly brilliant because it’s candid.

Verdict: He looks good. So good. The only thing letting this look down is the rolled-up trousers.

LATE 2017, WOOL COAT WITH THE KNEECAPS OUT

After Four Pins (which sadly hasn’t quite been as popping on the JH content this year) we’ve turned to @failingupwards and “jonah hill fit watch 2k18”, complete with accompanying Instagram @jonahfits. If you’re looking for the latest on how Jonah’s pairing his smoking habit with Gosha x adidas shoes, a Supreme carrier bag and bare knees like in this truly pivotal look, then it still has the goods.

Verdict: While much of the media may have been focused on Shia LaBeouf's neutral-toned sartorial similarities to Kanye West of late, the internet’s eyes are still rightfully on Jonah and his thoroughly gratifying pivot to quality cold-weather wear. This is a look few would attempt, and fewer would successfully pull off. He’s done it. He’s got this shit. He’s an icon.

MARCH 14 2018, JOINING INSTAGRAM

Three-and-a-half months into 2018 and we’re six days into Jonah Hill finally deciding to take on the task of giving us primo Jonah Hill content himself. Tank tops, Palace branding, smoking and dogs – there’s only eleven pictures so far, but this might just be Jonah content’s final form: a permanent “jonah hill fit watch” under the watchful eye of its auteur. And, of course, it’s black and white too – because next level Jonah is not only streetwear savvy but sophisticated as hell and will probably offer you a nice cigar.

Verdict: This is, in effect, Jonah Hill in control of jonah hill fit watch. It’s untested ground and the results are slow to come in, but we’re looking at the prospect of quality over quantity here people, and that can only be a good thing – right? Basically, Jonah Hill has run the fucking style gamut and, having made it out the other side, is now probably richer in stickers than any other man alive. Stand by.