FASHION Magazine

A pop phenomenon and a heartthrob, the Swedish actor can also be serious and low-key. Men’s FASHION editor-in-chief David Livingstone sits down with Alexander Skarsgard in New York.

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From the flow of his voice coming from behind the door, it’s evident that Alexander Skarsgard has taken to the role of spokesmodel with guileless good cheer.

As I sit outside a New York hotel suite, waiting in line to go face to face with the face of Encounter Calvin Klein ($87, thebay.com), this fall’s major new men’s fragrance, I can’t help hearing the interview before mine and thinking that the guy is not nearly as taciturn or inscrutable as he has been in the parts that have shaped his fame.

Born in Sweden in 1976, Skarsgard rose to North American stardom in 2008 with a one-two punch. On Generation Kill, an Emmy-winning HBO miniseries about the U.S. invasion of Iraq, he played a tight-lipped Marine nicknamed Iceman. After that came True Blood, the enthusiastically received HBO series (recently renewed for a sixth season) on which he plays an enigmatic vampire called Eric Northman.

If we lived in Baltic Europe, we would already be watching Paola Suhonen, the designer behind Finnish brand Ivana Helsinki. Suhonen’s clothes are captivating yet simple—she works mostly with cottons and wool fabrics, classic styles, fun prints—and each collection has a completely unique look.

Suhonen started the line 15 years ago, but says that it was building up for years before that. “My whole life has been one creative project,” she explains, and her inspirations are seemingly neverending. “Music is my great passion. I love Jack White, roadtrips, interesting people, good energy, my rescue dog Affe, old ‘70s films by Jörn Donner and Ingmar Bergman, great detective books…” she lists off. Seems like our kind of girl.