Before Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles, there was River Phoenix. In the brief span of his career, which lasted less than a decade, the American actor reached a cult status that was only reinforced by his untimely death in 1993. On what would have been his 48th birthday, Vogue looks back on his most memorable style moments.



With his chin-length, dirty-blonde hair, penchant for layering – blazers over plaid shirts over T-shirts – and intense gaze often verging on the melancholic, River Phoenix was born to be the posterboy of the 1990s. Together with girlfriend Martha Plimpton and friends Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves, he was part of that original group of young actors who came to define the style of the era, bringing grunge from Seattle's most rebellious performing stages to Hollywood's glamorous red carpets.



A talented actor – he was one of the youngest stars to receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 1989 Academy Awards for his role in Running on Empty – Phoenix was also a musician and an activist, forerunning the multi-hyphenated nature of today's celebrities. A committed vegan, in 1989 he performed for PETA's "Rock Against Fur" and in 1992 he won their Humanitarian of the Year award for his fundraising efforts.



In interviews, signs of his unorthodox and problematic upbringing – which involved singing on the streets for money, four years spent among the religious cult Children of God and memories of sexual abuse – seeped through his relaxed demeanour, his articulate answers revealing a soul older than that of a teenager. "River has an emotional weight that other young actors just don't have," said Nancy Savoca, director of Dogfight, speaking to American Vogue in 1990.



After roles in TV commercials and series, Phoenix skyrocketed to early fame at the age of 14 after playing Chris Chambers in Rob Reiner's coming-of-age film Stand by Me. Wearing the classic American uniform of jeans and white T-shirt, and with a cigarette often balanced on his lips, the actor resembled a young James Dean. In 1991, the actor played his second most-celebrated role as narcoleptic street hustler Mikey Waters in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. His intense performance alongside Keanu Reeves broke him out from the usual typecast roles, paving the way for a promising career that was suddenly cut short. On what would have been his 48th birthday, Vogue remembers River Phoenix with a round-up of his sartorial highlights.