A swellable packer including a tubular member and a swellable element. The tubular member is disposable on a mandrel configured to be deployed into a wellbore. The swellable element is disposed around the tubular member, and has segments of different cross link densities, with the segments configured to provide a varying cross link density in the swellable element along a thickness of the swellable element, an azimuth of the swellable element, or both.