Can Alexander Skarsgard pull off kinky boots?
All respect to the ballgowns and Rihanna's burgeoning baby bump, but there is a wild card in the running for the (unofficial) gong of Biggest Scene Stealer on the Cannes red carpet this week — wild being the operative word. They may not have broken any of the draconian dress code rules but do we think le comité might have had a few thoughts on Alexander Skarsgard's boots?
Wowee — they're what you might kindly describe as 'a bit out there'. Robin Hood and angling society president also come to mind — which I hope won't offend any keen fishermen. Thigh high, made of glossy black leather and from Loewe, one of the hippest luxury labels around, they're an esoteric choice to pair with a tuxedo (yep — trousers tucked in), as Skarsgard did on La Croisette on Sunday night.
I was just gathering my thoughts when I overheard a colleague in the Times office say she thought they were rather sexy. To which I had to ask: are you OK? Interesting and surprising, yes — but I'm not sure even Skarsgard, the most fanciable of men, can make these kinky boots the kind of look I'd like to find waiting for me at the bar. Not least because I have owned pairs that look worryingly similar.
They are a bit fetishy, I'll give them that. Skarsgard does have that dark and twisty brand of handsome going for him — and as it happens, he is at Cannes to promote a BDSM-themed biker film, Pillion. But I don't think that kink is the only theme that he or the architect of this look, the celebrity stylist Harry Lambert, were going for here.
• Pillion review — Harry Potter's Dudley Dursley submits in the suburbs
Looking at what else the pair have put together for Cannes — dark blue sequin slacks from the British designer Bianca Saunders, tight black leather trousers (again from Loewe) paired with a fitted white T-shirt featuring, prepare yourself, a cartoon of someone seemingly boot-licking — it seems to me that, much like Brad Pitt and Daniel Craig of late, Skarsgard is in the era of taking risks.
This is not about being straight-down-the-line fanciable, dear. It's about fashion — with a capital F.
Lambert has past form in this department. He made his name working closely with Harry Styles — remember those purple and green feather boas at the 2021 Grammys? I'm always delighted to see a man having more fun than is usually allowed on the red carpet, but it's a shame something similarly plumy wasn't lined up for Skarsgard this week. At the very least, he mightn't have looked so uncomfortably toasty.
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