3 min read
IF ANYONE CAN MAKE RATTAN hot, it’s Alexander Skarsgård. The actor’s latest film project, about a craftsman who creates a wicker husband (Skarsgård) for a lonely woman (played by Olivia Colman), has been an unlikely hit since its release in theaters last week. But basket weave isn’t the only material Skarsgård’s rocking—he’s been killing it on the red carpet lately, too.
There was the gold Saint Laurent suit earlier this month at the BFI London Film Festival, the sick Chopova Lowena skirt to promote Wicker at the Los Angeles premiere last week, and the head-to-toe Valentino outfit he wore at the house’s show during Paris Fashion Week. It seems there’s nothing Alexander Skarsgård can’t infuse with his unique brand of Swedish swag.
Shop the new Valentino Vendetta fragrance.
So, it should come as no surprise when Valentino tapped the 50-year-old star as one of the faces of its brand-new fragrance pillar, Vendetta (alongside Dakota Johnson for the women’s version). Unlike Valentino’s most famous scent family, Born in Roma, which features a spiked pyramid design, Vendetta’s bottle pays homage to the brand’s classic V motif, with a rich, sensual juice created by master perfumer Marie Salamagne.
You’ll get the sensuality from the campaign imagery, photographed by iconic duo Inez & Vinoodh, and the epic accompanying video, directed by French filmmaker Romain Gavras, but what about the fragrance itself?
“It has a boldness and a kind of self-assertive quality to it,” Skarsgård tells me when I ask him to describe the scent. “It’s not quite as heavy as I thought it would be. That first note of ginger has a lightness to it and then it evolves into those richer, deeper notes that last longer.”
For his part, Skarsgård says he’s a signature scent kind of guy—a far cry from the scentmaxxing approach of today’s TikTokers, who douse themselves in enough cologne to create their own noxious atmosphere.
“I’m a proponent of finding your fragrance and sticking with it,” he says. “You become associated with that smell, it becomes part of who you are.”
That’s not to say he hasn’t had his share of missteps. Born in Stockholm, Skarsgård began acting at a young age—his first film role came when he was just seven—but quit as a teenager to join the Swedish navy and, eventually, attend university. Along the way, he learned some valuable fragrance lessons, as most guys do. “I think when I was a teenager, I overdid it a lot,” he says. “You want to marry your scents, so it’s a combination of the fragrance and your own natural scent.”
A woody-spicy addition to the Valentino fragrance family, Vendetta is the first new scent pillar from the brand since its blockbuster Born in Roma.
It’s quite an evolution for a lad who equates childhood with the unmistakable aroma of sausage. When I ask Skarsgård about his first connection to fragrance—that unmistakably transformative power of scent—it’s the sausage factory that faced his front door.
“To this day, it really brings me back, and they’re fond memories,” he says. “Whenever I smell sausage, I’m an eight-year-old again. I’m getting ready for school, seeing my buddies, thinking about this girl I had a crush on. It strikes a chord.”
Of course, processed meat isn’t a key part of the olfactive experience of Vendetta Uomo. It opens with a sharp note of sparkling ginger with the typical brightness of a top note. From there, a warm, rich cinnamon liquor accord envelops the nose and gives way to earthy, grounding patchouli and woods. It’s at turns inviting and accessible while still drawing you in with something seductive and unique.
It’s sex in a spritz, the idea being that you too can have the appeal of a 6’4″ Norse god. Ironically, Skarsgård’s everyday life couldn’t be more different from what he says most people see when he’s walking the red carpet or strutting his stuff on screen.
“When I’m not working, I’m trying to spend as little time as possible thinking about [my skincare and sartorial choices],” he says. “It’s all about comfort. I’ve been on a shoot for four months and I’ve been wearing the same shorts and flip-flops for months.”
But isn’t that part of the appeal of a fragrance—the ability to be a different person, someone out of your ordinary? Sure, you could be wearing a pair of sweats and a hat, but with a spray of Vendetta, you’re suddenly wearing a leopard-print overcoat on top of it.
It’s a good look. Just ask Alexander Skarsgård.
Shop the new Valentino Vendetta fragrance.
Brian Underwood is beauty director at Women’s Health, where he oversees content strategy for the brand across all platforms, including digital, print, and social. Underwood previously served as beauty and wellness director at Oprah Daily and O, The Oprah Magazine. During his tenure leading beauty content for the Oprah brand at Hearst, stories Underwood commissioned were awarded the Skin Cancer Foundation Media Award and a Fragrance Award for Editorial Excellence (his second). He was the launch Beauty Director of Dr. Oz THE GOOD LIFE, and has held additional editorial positions at Fitness, Organic Style, Good Housekeeping, Life & Style Weekly, and Woman’s Day and has written for Self, Shape, Seventeen, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and many more. Underwood previously served on the Skin Cancer Foundation’s gala committee and as partnerships director of the Trans Beauty Clinic, a New York-based charitable organization that provided beauty services and workshops to the city’s trans community.
