Paul Mescal has been named GQ's most stylish person of 2024, rounding out a stellar year for the Kildare native's career.

From when he burst onto our screens wearing GAA shorts and a silver chain necklace in Normal People in 2020, Mescal has been an inspiration for fashion-minded men and women everywhere.

In just four short years of fame, Mescal's name has become as synonymous with itty bitty shorts and slick tailored suits as it is with sausages - if you know, you know. But, surprisingly, that hasn't been the plan.

Speaking to the publication after the announcement, Mescal said, "It hasn't been a conscious trendsetting of the shorts and the sneakers, it's just something that I've been comfortable wearing long before anybody’s been taking pictures of me walking on the street."

While his red carpet and award show appearances have won him wide acclaim, styled by Felicity Kay and favouring a 70s-inspired silhouette with contemporary flair and a subtle pushing back of stereotypical "menswear" styles, he's arguably more beloved for his off-duty looks.

Arriving to training the Tuesday after kicking 2-4 from wing forward... @mescal_paul. pic.twitter.com/cYehmZVFAD

— Rory's Stories (@RorysStories) May 26, 2020

Whether he's strutting back from the shop in an oversized Adidas jacket and aforementioned GAA shorts, or walking the streets of New York with a salad, a cropped hoodie and ... yet more GAA shorts, Mescal's own fashion taste clearly taps into the zeitgeist.

So powerful was his endorsement of the GAA short that Gucci - for which Mescal is now a brand partner - started selling lookalike shorts for a whopping €550.

More powerful still, is how at the recent Paul Mescal lookalike competition scores of men - and a few women - showed up wearing not much more than GAA shorts, a hoodie and wired headphones for a touch of realism.

Maybe that's the appeal: for Irish people, these are just things we've grown up wearing - especially Mescal himself, who was the captain of the Kildare minor GAA team. But pair them with the handsome star of one of this year's biggest films, Gladiator II, and you've got a ready made fashion icon.