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A freaky menswear star is afoot. Someone whose goal seems only to shock, tantalize and disorient unsuspecting onlookers. He wears loose-fitting trousers festooned with sequins. He’ll step out in a floor-length jacket reminiscent of a gothic priest. He frolics around industry events in sleeveless collared shirts that expose his back to the masses. He is Alexander Skarsgård, and he has taken the 2025 fashion landscape by storm. In case your timeline has somehow been spared, the Swedish actor has made it his personal mission to get as sexily strange as possible this year. Working with stylist Harry Lambert, he has turned each red carpet event into an opportunity for sartorial stupefaction—stopping scrollers in their tracks and redefining modern menswear along the way. Right now, he is in the midst of a press tour for the upcoming film Pillion, where he plays the leader of a queer biker gang who enters into a dominant-submissive relationship. Naturally, he’s been leaning into BDSM codes, but not in a corporatized Christian Grey way. Instead, he’s taken a turn for the gritty—sporting bondage-inspired leathers and cheeky baby tees. Throughout the promotional run, he’s worn an electric blue sweater with “DREAM GIRL” printed in bold yellow lettering, courtesy of kinkwear brand Ladycotton. Before that, he stepped out in a skin-hugging T-shirt by British artist Joe Sweeney (with coordinating, just-as-tight leather Saint Laurent pants) that read “Hot Buffet.” Mere months earlier, he pulled up to Cannes Film Festival in a white T-shirt with an illustration of a man licking the bottom of leather boots, which he sourced from a South London store called Jerks.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Even in his dressier ensembles, Skarsgård has strategically side-stepped the classic tux. While at Cannes, he debuted a collar-shirt halter-neck, which he finished with suggestively studded leather pants. Other appearances at the festival included thigh-high leather boots, glitzy blue pants and a floppy pastel pink bowtie. Are these looks…stylish? It’s hard to definitively say. Still, there’s a bizarrely alluring quality to each one—one that transcends skin-showing seductiveness. Yes, Skarsgård bares his legs and occasionally an oiled-up shoulder, but even his more modest get-ups feel infused with audacious self-expression. Take the aforementioned priest outfit. At the top of the year, while promoting Murderbot, a sci-fi comedy in which he stars as a robot gone rogue, he wore the floor-length all-black top coat, which exuded Conclave-adjacent drip. Whichever direction he swings on the scale of aesthetic categorization—from papal to promiscuous—he always delivers a look with a cheeky grin and room-commanding entrance.
Photo by Marleen Moise/via Getty
Through all its twists and turns, Alexander Skarsgård’s style is the natural evolution of the dichotomous menswear landscape du jour. On one end, we have the low-effort dressers—like Adam Sandler and Justin Bieber—whose intentionally sloppy, dad-core ‘fits are somehow subversively chic. On the other hand, there are the supremely dapper demographics—the likes of A$AP Rocky and Colman Domingo—who specialize in polished suiting with statement bags and glitzy brooches. In their wake, space has been made for a new kind of menswear model. One that thrives off of silly accessories and gender-bending, risqué cuts. Think: Timothée Chalamet in his teeny tiny scarves or Pedro Pascal in his bicep-baring tanks. Chief among this new crop of clothing connoisseurs is Skarsgård, who revels in randomness and always delivers on vibes.
Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images
To many, 2025 was the year that sexiness returned. Across recent runways and menswear appearances, there was an emphasis on sensuality that went beyond the standard bodycon sense. This is where Skarsgård shines brightest. An air of mystery reliably wafts off his floppy bowties and studded biker boots. There is no easy-to-crack code to his fashion sense, because the cornerstone of Skarsgård’s style comes down to something more elusive: aura. Instead of trying to understand, let us simply enjoy the ride. We can only hope he’ll keep the baby tees coming. Continue Reading
