Charli XCX’s latest album features artwork that may leave less pop culture-savvy fans wondering who the three seemingly random men on the cover actually are.
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Indeed, the 34-year-old’s Music, Fashion, Film dropped on July 24th. The album’s cover art, shot by director & photographer Aidan Zamiri, features an artsy black-and-white photo of three men dressed in black. Two of them sit at a kitchen island, looking nonplussed with only an ashtray in front of them. Meanwhile, a younger man stands brooding in the background, wearing ballet slippers, leaning against the kitchen cabinets.
When the “Fancy” singer teased the album back in June, she showed off the cover without mentioning the three men, seemingly letting the image speak for itself.
“My new album, Music, Fashion, Film, is out July 24th. 11 songs, 30 minutes, 5 seconds. Available to pre-order now, love you xx,” the artist, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, wrote alongside the photo.
Of course, Charli XCX’s fans and high-profile fans gushed with excitement in the comments section.
“This may be the greatest album cover of its time. I’m blown away,” former late-night host and actor James Corden wrote. “So sick,” singer-songwriter FINNEAS added. “hell yeah,” “vampire” singer Olivia Rodrigo wrote.
Even Walmart, of all places, couldn’t help but chime in with, “I have chills.” Oh my! Clean up on aisle forty-three!
Still, are these three guys so iconic that they need not be mentioned? Let’s examine who they are and just how each one represents the album’s title.
The Details of the 3 Icons on the Album Cover of Charli XCX’s Music, Fashion, Film
Starting with “music,” we have 84-year-old Welsh musician John Cale. A founding member of the Velvet Underground, Cale recorded two studio albums with the group before going on to work as a producer with artists including Nico, the Stooges, Patti Smith, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
However, he’s not just there as an elder statesman of music: he also collaborated with Charli XCX on the 2025 track “House” for the Wuthering Heights soundtrack. To his credit, he seemed genuinely delighted to be included on the album cover, commenting “Thank you Charli!” on her album art reveal post.
For “Fashion,” we have the somewhat predictable choice of fashion designer Marc Jacobs. A veritable spring chicken at 63, Jacobs is probably best known for his role as creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014. Once again, Charli XCX has also collaborated with Jacobs, starring in the Y2K-nostalgic Marc Jacobs’ Heaven line campaign.
Jacobs was also pleased to be part of the trio, writing “Thank you Charli 🙏🏻♥️ So grateful to be included♥️♥️♥️,” in the comments section.
Finally, representing film, we have one of the greatest living directors, Martin Scorsese. At 83, Scorsese has spent the past six decades crafting some of the finest American cinema. He’s helmed crowd-pleasers like Goodfellas and controversial works like The Last Temptation of Christ and the quietly (ahem) contemplative Silence.
Meanwhile, unlike Cale and Jacobs, Scorsese hasn’t directly collaborated with Charli XCX. And without an Instagram account, he wasn’t able to comment under her post announcing the trio. If you think about it, that’s pretty iconic in itself.