In fluoro yellow Speedos, Walton Goggins, 53, is the real White Lotus star

With a receding hairline showcasing a forehead that’s resisted the lure of Botox, 53-year-old The White Lotus actor Walton Goggins is an unlikely candidate for fashion stardom.

On the cover of this month’s US magazine Cultured, Goggins has defied the odds – and airbrushing – by demonstrating his style credentials in a brief yellow Speedo swimsuit and suede jacket from Italian luxury label Zegna.

By the youth-obsessed standards of the fashion industry, where 16-year-olds can walk the runway at Australian Fashion Week, Goggins should be languishing in a quilted smoking jacket on the back pages of GQ, not manspreading in a banana hammock on this season’s coolest cover, photographed by Sinna Nasseri.

Cover star: character actor Walton Goggins is in unfamiliar territory.Credit:

“It was impossible to ignore Goggins’ style in The White Lotus,” says celebrity stylist Mikey Ayoubi. “It was well considered to work with his looks. On the handsome scale, he sits somewhere between Jim Carrey and Colin Farrell. They all have a similar quality.”

Goggins’ run of recent covers, including UK title Man About Town, The Hollywood Reporter and You, signals a shift in menswear modelling, with Daniel Craig, 57, having demonstrated his quirky side in knitwear for Loewe, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, 59, appearing in advertising campaigns for Zegna, and the red-carpet collaborations between Prada and Jeff Goldblum, 72.

“The Daniel Craig Loewe campaign and Miu Miu sending established actors like Willem Dafoe down the runway has definitely revitalised the idea of the old bachelor in fashion,” Ayoubi says.

As some menswear brands continue to struggle financially, with Jeremy Hershan, the creative director of Australian label Haulier, announcing today that he would be placing his business into “hibernation”, the seniors style strategy is worth exploring.

“There’s a relatability to these faces that is appealing to the luxury consumer,” says contributing Vogue stylist Carlos Mangubat. “With women it’s the supermodels from the ’90s, like Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington, that continue to engage with people. Older actors that are strangely familiar are the male version of that.

“It’s tough out there for luxury brands, so this shift gets attention.”

Loewe and Miu Miu have both resisted the downward trend in luxury. In October, Loewe reported a rise in revenue by 30 per cent in 2023 to €810.8 million ($1.4 billion), while Miu Miu reported a 93 per cent sales increase in the first half of 2024.

“Ultimately, it’s about authenticity,” says Melbourne menswear designer Christian Kimber, who has used older men in his campaigns and on the runway since launching his label in 2014.

“Around 70 per cent of our customers are over 40 and most men who are over 40 don’t look at younger men for inspiration on how to dress. That’s not who they want to be. They would like to be James Bond or even Walton Goggins.

“Very few of us would say no to a six-pack like that,” Kimber says. It remains to be seen how many men will now say yes to yellow Speedos.

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.