Sebastian Stan: ‘I didn’t know how well a suit could be tailored until Boss’

MANILA, Philippines — For someone who’s played the Winter Soldier, actor Sebastian Stan looks very summery in a Boss polo shirt as he fields interview questions at Lavo, one of the rooftop restaurants at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore.

Boss chose Stan, who played Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier in the Captain America movies and most recently in Avengers: Infinity War, to star in its recent “Summer of Ease” campaign, where the 35-year-old looked cool and suave alongside model Romee Strijd in Boss’s 2018 summer menswear collection.

“I love the people at Hugo Boss. I love how considerate they are, how thoughtful, and I love how they have a very keen eye for specificity and detail and nothing goes unchecked,” Stan says, citing how a Boss tailor fitting him for a suit had made an altering suggestion no other brand had made before. “I like to think that’s how I want to approach my work.”

We spoke to Stan about his new “Man of Style” status as one of the brand ambassadors of Hugo Boss.

The Philippine STAR: Has working with Boss educated you about fashion?

Yeah, I would say that.

How would you describe your fashion style pre-Boss?

I think I was a little bit all over the place. A good thing is if I saw something I liked, I went for it, but the bad thing is that I was sometimes impulsive. I like clothes that I can use again, that I can wear again or find different ways of wearing it.

When I think it comes to (Boss), it’s just made me think more specifically about the whole image that I want to put forward and that represents me in that I want to feel good and comfortable walking into a room, and I also don’t want to feel like I spend a lot of time working on that, because I don’t like to spend a lot of time working on it. Looking a certain way, it’s being effortless while at the same time being direct.

What do you think about Boss’ tailoring?

There’s a sophistication in less is more, in the sense that you’re getting a very confident, direct sort of look, that what you see is what you get. If I were to wear my “confidence on my sleeve,” that would fit well with how I see their clothes. Any suit that I’ve worn by them has always been very precise to an incredible amount, where I didn’t even know how precise a suit can be and how well it can be tailored — I mean, every little angle. But then it’s good because once you have that it’s yours forever and you wear it however you want to wear it, whether it’s casual or formal. It’s easy, and I think sometimes it should be easy. 

Actor Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier in the Captain America and Avengers movies: “There’s a sophistication in less is more.”

When you do a fashion shoot, like when you shot the “Summer of Ease” campaign, do you put on a character in front of the camera, or are we seeing the real Sebastian Stan?

Obviously it’s very familiar because you see a camera, but it was a little bit different. I would say I’m much more okay as an actor. I think with fashion shoots, I have to say there’s a whole different world to it and a different level of comfortableness, but I think Hugo Boss worked well for me because I don’t have many looks at my disposal, so the way I was looking that day on the shoot seem to work for what we were doing.

How do you normally dress?

I’m a pretty straightforward kind of guy. During the summer, if I can just have a T-shirt, maybe a light jacket, I’m good with it. Especially when it comes to the suits, I feel like I’m very specific with what I like. But one thing that was fun yesterday was that we had like a light shirt underneath, and then we threw a double-breasted jacket over it, and it was great. I could’ve gone out to dinner and gone out for the night, but I also could’ve just ended it there.

What are your favorite looks or pieces from the summer collection?

I always look at their jackets. But even the polo shirts I feel are great because T-shirt wise I’m pretty standard: if I could just stick to the white T-shirts or the black T-shirts I’m good — like I literally live in those two worlds — and then I always think, it’s going to be hot out but I can’t really wear a T-shirt because it’s going to be a little bit more formal or dressier, so then maybe the polo shirts are a good way to go.

Growing up, who were your role models, style- and acting-wise?

Acting-wise is a little bit easier. I’ve always looked at the actors in the ’50s and the ’40s and it’s funny because that’s when the white T-shirt, jacket, jeans thing was the deal. If you look at Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, all those great actors from the ’40s, they wore a tailor-made suit that was much more classic, with the pocket square. I feel like if you’re a guy, classier is always better.

What’s one fashion trend you would never adopt, or that you think needs to go away?

Oh, man, growing up there was some really weird fashion, stuff that I was seeing, like the big, baggy jeans — I remember wearing that when I was in high school. But you know what’s kind of made a comeback — it’s more on women — is the high-waist jeans. Even for men. Back in the ’40s and ’50s they were up to your ribs, so I don’t know about that.