Alexander Skarsgård Channels His Inner Dominatrix at Cannes, Ahead of 'Pillion'
Sticks and stones may break his bones but chains and whips excite him... or however the song goes!
Naked dresses and long trains may be banned at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, but the new rules said nothing about fetishwear. It's no wonder that Alexander Skarsgård is pushing the envelope, albeit fully clothed, at this year's weeks-long spell on the Croisette. Is he really dressing like a leather daddy? Yes, and for good reason.
The actor kicked off the week on the red carpet for his latest film Pillion, in which he plays a man (opposite Harry Melling) who enters a BDSM relationship with the leader of a biker gang. The movie unfolds into a kinky romance with some deeper meanings and wild makeout scenes that have gripped audiences at Cannes. After method dressing sweeping red carpet trends in recent years, it only makes sense that Skarsgård has been dressing like his character.
The Swedish performer pulled up to the red carpet on Sunday in a casual and kink-positive look comprised of black leather pants and riding boots by Loewe and a white graphic T-shirt (featuring an illustration of a leather boot hovering above a man’s face). 
The actor broke the internet again later in the day when he paired thigh-high black leather boots with a double-breasted black suit by Saint Laurent at the red-carpet premiere of Wes Anderson’s The Phonecian Scheme. It was the kinky mullet of red carpet looks! On Tuesday, the actor gifted onlookers with yet another outside-the-box ensemble at the Eagles of the Republic red-carpet premiere, wearing blue sequin pants, a gray suit blazer, and a baby pink bow tie.
In a landscape of predictable menswear on red carpets, Skarsgård repeatedly breaks the mold. Who could forget when he wore a leash to the Infinity Pool premiere, or when he went to the premiere of The Diary of a Teenage Girl in drag? This week only reaffirms the actor’s status as the freakiest Skarsgård brother. With mere days left in the festival, there’s ample time for him to wow us even more. We’re keeping our eyes peeled to see what he does next.
