‘Daddy’ Was the Prevailing Menswear Theme at Cannes This Year
StyleOfficially, the film festival reinforced its dress code to preserve “decency.” Pedro Pascal and Alexander Skarsgård sexed up the red carpet anyway.By Eileen CartterMay 23, 2025GQ; Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySaveLast week, the 2025 Cannes Film Festival kicked off with a freshly reinforced dress code that stipulated, among other things, that “for decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet.” If you’d asked me then to forecast the prevailing fashion takeaways from this year’s seaside cinema extravaganza, I would have predicted the obvious: a sexless fashion event in France! Sacré bleu!Cannes is famous for its high-glam red carpet, where the Riviera sunlight glints off highlighted collarbones and voluminous sequined gowns. There have even been sultry menswear moments in recent years, such as the 2023 premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life, when the hunky cast of Spanish actors Jason Fernandez, Manu Ríos and Jose Condessa all managed to find suits that displayed some combination of bare chests and biceps. When I inquired with the Cannes press office about how the no-nudity policy would apply to men and their no-shirt suits—what would happen to all of those toned pectorals?—I received the same standard reply they’d already sent to other publications: “This year, the Cannes Film Festival has made explicit in its charter certain rules that have long been in effect,” the response read, adding, “The aim is not to regulate attire per se, but to prohibit full nudity on the red carpet, in accordance with the institutional framework of the event and French law.” (The Cannes press office did not respond to requests for clarification.)In 2023, several castmembers of Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life showed off their bare chests on the Cannes red carpet. How would sexy ensembles for men fare under the festival's newly reinforced “decency” policy? PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/Getty ImagesInstead, for the last two weeks at Cannes, there was still sex, though it manifested in goofier, more meme-friendly forms. There was a bevy of handsome actors over the age of 40 to pick up the slack. The emerging menswear theme seemed to be, for lack of a better term, “fashion daddy.” Grown men took “fashion risks” calculated to titillate and/or swoon, or at least generate lots of posts. Was it lusty? Maybe, though not in the classic sense. Depends on what you’re into.Pedro Pascal in sleveless Calvin Klein. Jacopo RauleJeremy Strong, a jury member at Cannes this year, started things off in a raw-hemmed jacket, trousers, and bucket hat crafted by the private-label designer Haans Nicholas Mott, all in a fleshy shade of pink that recalled the color of steak tartare—the first of several pastel-toned, softly flirtatious outfits he had planned. Pedro Pascal, the prevailing fashion daddy of Hollywood, bared arms and a flirty swoop of torso in sleeveless Calvin Klein. A$AP Rocky looked grown and sexy in a white single-breasted Miu Miu suit, before shifting into a more literal dad mode as he accompanied his pregnant partner, Rihanna, on the red carpet for his upcoming Spike Lee film, Highest 2 Lowest.For his gig as Cannes jury member, Jeremy Strong packed several all-pink ensembles. Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesAt the photocall for Highest 2 Lowest, a daddy summit: Spike Lee, A$AP Rocky, and Denzel Washington. Anadolu/Getty ImagesAnd then there was Alexander Skarsgård, who was at the festival to promote his role in the upcoming queer biker drama Pillion, in which he plays a leather-wearing dom For the Swedish actor, then, wearing daddyish fashion on the Cannes red carpet was a matter of method dressing—the rising trend of stars and their stylists choosing clothing that is thematically relevant (if, oftentimes, cloyingly literal) to whatever project their promoting, further blurring the line between marketing and storytelling. In this case, Skarsgård and his stylist, Harry Lambert, leaned into the dom dynamic with black leather trousers with a vintage “bootlicker” graphic tee, as well as a tuxedo with fetishistic thigh-high leather boots from a kinky Saint Laurent collection.Alexander Skarsgård, who stars in the upcoming queer biker drama Pillion, paired a vintage “booklicker” tee with Loewe leather trousers. Dominique CharriauOn the red carpet, he upped the ante in Saint Laurent's leather waders. Samir HusseinAs Skarsgård explained on the British morning show Lorraine this week, “I’m wearing a lot of black leather in the movie, so I thought it would be appropriate to have a little black leather on the carpet.”For that TV appearance, Skarsgård wore S.S. Daley plaid microshorts and G.H. Bass loafers with hiked-up white tube socks. “I wanted to be sexy today and I thought, ‘There’s nothing sexier than a middle-aged man in a British schoolboy uniform,’” he deadpanned. Anyways, he seems to be having fun.
Last week, the 2025 Cannes Film Festival kicked off with a freshly reinforced dress code that stipulated, among other things, that “for decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet.” If you’d asked me then to forecast the prevailing fashion takeaways from this year’s seaside cinema extravaganza, I would have predicted the obvious: a sexless fashion event in France! Sacré bleu!
Cannes is famous for its high-glam red carpet, where the Riviera sunlight glints off highlighted collarbones and voluminous sequined gowns. There have even been sultry menswear moments in recent years, such as the 2023 premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life, when the hunky cast of Spanish actors Jason Fernandez, Manu Ríos and Jose Condessa all managed to find suits that displayed some combination of bare chests and biceps. When I inquired with the Cannes press office about how the no-nudity policy would apply to men and their no-shirt suits—what would happen to all of those toned pectorals?—I received the same standard reply they’d already sent to other publications: “This year, the Cannes Film Festival has made explicit in its charter certain rules that have long been in effect,” the response read, adding, “The aim is not to regulate attire per se, but to prohibit full nudity on the red carpet, in accordance with the institutional framework of the event and French law.” (The Cannes press office did not respond to requests for clarification.)
Instead, for the last two weeks at Cannes, there was still sex, though it manifested in goofier, more meme-friendly forms. There was a bevy of handsome actors over the age of 40 to pick up the slack. The emerging menswear theme seemed to be, for lack of a better term, “fashion daddy.” Grown men took “fashion risks” calculated to titillate and/or swoon, or at least generate lots of posts. Was it lusty? Maybe, though not in the classic sense. Depends on what you’re into.
Jeremy Strong, a jury member at Cannes this year, started things off in a raw-hemmed jacket, trousers, and bucket hat crafted by the private-label designer Haans Nicholas Mott, all in a fleshy shade of pink that recalled the color of steak tartare—the first of several pastel-toned, softly flirtatious outfits he had planned. Pedro Pascal, the prevailing fashion daddy of Hollywood, bared arms and a flirty swoop of torso in sleeveless Calvin Klein. A$AP Rocky looked grown and sexy in a white single-breasted Miu Miu suit, before shifting into a more literal dad mode as he accompanied his pregnant partner, Rihanna, on the red carpet for his upcoming Spike Lee film, Highest 2 Lowest.
And then there was Alexander Skarsgård, who was at the festival to promote his role in the upcoming queer biker drama Pillion, in which he plays a leather-wearing dom For the Swedish actor, then, wearing daddyish fashion on the Cannes red carpet was a matter of method dressing—the rising trend of stars and their stylists choosing clothing that is thematically relevant (if, oftentimes, cloyingly literal) to whatever project their promoting, further blurring the line between marketing and storytelling. In this case, Skarsgård and his stylist, Harry Lambert, leaned into the dom dynamic with black leather trousers with a vintage “bootlicker” graphic tee, as well as a tuxedo with fetishistic thigh-high leather boots from a kinky Saint Laurent collection.
As Skarsgård explained on the British morning show Lorraine this week, “I’m wearing a lot of black leather in the movie, so I thought it would be appropriate to have a little black leather on the carpet.”
For that TV appearance, Skarsgård wore S.S. Daley plaid microshorts and G.H. Bass loafers with hiked-up white tube socks. “I wanted to be sexy today and I thought, ‘There’s nothing sexier than a middle-aged man in a British schoolboy uniform,’” he deadpanned. Anyways, he seems to be having fun.
