Alexander Skarsgård Knows What He’s Doing to Us

Like any great dom, Alexander Skarsgård knows exactly what his audience wants. For the past few months, he’s been promoting his new NSFW rom-com Pillion, which follows a BDSM relationship between a taciturn biker (Skarsgård) and a British wallflower (Harry Melling, a.k.a. Dudley Dursley from Harry Potter). The film is both a moving debut from director Harry Lighton and a glorious highbrow excuse to witness one of Hollywood’s hottest actors top. For Skarsgård, it’s also an opportunity to show that he’s unafraid to experiment both onscreen and off; during the press tour, he’s teased his sexual history “with men [and] women” and upended the male-movie-star fashion playbook with surprising fetish-inspired outfits.

Skarsgård is no stranger to daring red-carpet looks — in 2023, at the Sundance premiere of Brandon Cronenberg thriller Infinity Pool, he walked on all fours with a leather collar on and Mia Goth holding his leash. But his Pillion outfits demonstrate a whole new level of dedication to method dressing. Styled by Harry Lambert, Skarsgård has stepped out in risqué graphic tees, back-exposing blouses, and leather pants, sometimes looking like a Tom of Finland muscle hunk and other times a coquettish schoolgirl. If his Infinity Pool leash was screaming, these outfits are coy murmurs — and watching what Skarsgård will wear next has become its own naughty little game.

The Step-On-Me-Daddy Tee

At Cannes, festival organizers have banned nudity — but not fetish-inspired attire. For Pillion’s festival premiere in May, Skarsgård wore an archival white tee of a foot hovering above a face, sourced from the South London store Jerks, and leather trousers from Celine. What an excellent outfit for kissing Pedro Pascal after Pillon’s seven-minute standing ovation.

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The Naughty School Uniform

Skarsgård looked so babygirl for a May episode of the Lorraine show in a bomber jacket, tie, and plaid short-shorts that I immediately thought of the front cover of The Clique books. “I wanted to be sexy today,” he explained. “And I thought, There’s nothing sexier than a middle-aged man in a British school-boy uniform.” I’m going to have to agree.

The Tasteful Dildo Blouse

Skarsgård went a tinge more subtle in October at the Zurich Film Festival, where he wore this white silk blouse printed with what appears to be a pointillist still life of … dildos? It’s from Magliano, a Milanese label inspired by Italy’s queer subcultures.

The Rugged Lumberjack

This one breaks the mold. Paired with his father in the Variety “Actors on Actors” interview, Skarsgård looks like a schmuck in a blazer, very wide silk tie, and giant sea-green shorts. Is it clownplay? Does he have a secret Marty Supreme cameo? Skarsgård is apparently not used to hiding so much of his thigh — when his father poked fun at the length of his shorts, he noted that they were “the longest shorts I’ve ever worn.”