Stylist Ilaria Urbinati on Barry Keoghan’s ‘ Playfully Rebellious’ Style
The Oscar-nominated actor has been making waves on red carpets for his bold take on classic menswear.
Barry Keoghan emerged as a red carpet style star to watch during the 2023 awards season when he received a slew of nominations for his performance in
“The Banshees of Inisherin.” The Oscarnominated actor has only continued this streak over the last month with his recent standout fashion moments.
Keoghan has appeared on multiple red carpets recently thanks to his projects “Saltburn” and “Masters of the Air,” where he's worn looks that take a bold spin on classic menswear. For the looks, Keoghan works closely with his stylist, Ilaria Urbinati.
“He's inherently very rebellious — kind of like a playfully rebellious person,” Urbinati said. “He's always the guy with a grin on his face, you know? He's just sort of interesting like that and I think that he likes the idea of playing with clothes in a way that is going to be different or surprise people or that plays with the idea of what formalwear looks like.”
This “playfully rebellious” style came through with his first red carpet look of the year at the 2024 Golden Globes, where he was nominated for best actor for his role in “Saltburn.” Keoghan attended the ceremony wearing a red heritage Damier print suit from Louis Vuitton accessorized with the design house's jewelry. The suit was inspired by a style from Pharrell Williams' debut spring 2024 men's collection.
Urbinati explained she worked closely with Louis Vuitton on the look, putting together ideas for the fabrics and accessories. She stated it was Keoghan's idea to go with an all-red look.
“Sometimes, you'll get someone who overthinks the clothes and it doesn't have as much of an effortless feel,” she said. “The reason I think Barry pulls off certain looks is because he's very effortless about it in his own way. He cares about it, and he's very educated about fashion and designers.”
Keoghan's bold take on menswear, which has been a consistent trend since the pandemic era red carpets, is typically seen through his use of color and silhouette. Urbinati explained the actor likes to be experimental with his looks, which has resulted in him wearing menswear pieces that are sleeveless or cropped.
For instance, Keoghan attended the Los Angeles premiere of “Masters of the Air” last month in a sleeveless vest and loosefitting trousers from Dolce & Gabbana.
“He pulled it off because he has so much confidence,” Urbinati said. “He can pull off things that are fluid, but on him feels still very masculine because he's got
a very masculine air to him.”
The stylist explained this was also apparent through his look for the Governors Awards in January, where Keoghan wore a black tuxedo with a ruffled white shirt from Stella McCartney's women's collection.
Urbinati highlighted Keoghan's red carpet look at the “Masters of the Air” London premiere as one of her recent favorites. The actor eschewed a formal look in favor of a mohair blue vest and black trousers from Burberry.
“It's very him,” she said. “It's kind of a little punk, cozy and cute. It's not too serious, not too dressy. Then you see him standing up there with everyone in a suit and he just stands out. He's so confident that he doesn't care that he's the only one not in a suit.”
Overall Urbinati thinks Keoghan's confidence on the red carpet coupled with his acclaimed acting performances have helped him strike a chord with spectators.
“He's having a moment,” she said. “As a stylist, I've been doing this for so many years and you see different guys get these kinds of moments where they're getting a lot of attention and they always say it's like a perfect storm of things. You have a film that is in the zeitgeist of the conversation. He's such a raw talent — people just love it.”