Tilda Swinton Channels David Bowie and Her Father in an Out-of-This World Fashion Story by Tim Walker
Many a style icon is a change agent, but Tilda Swinton may be alone in the way she transforms herself with such ease, both onscreen and in her subversive, playful public outings. For this portfolio shot by Tim Walker, Swinton teamed up with her close friend Jerry Stafford, the creative director of a French production company, who has become her fashion consigliere. “He’s my playmate,” she says. “It’s a game, and we have great fun with it.” Together, they created a “mood board,” collating images from diverse sources— Arnold Genthe’s portraits of Greta Garbo, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, and the work of French artist and provocateur Claude Cahun, famous in the Twenties for her explorations of gender role play. Ultimately, though, her starting and ending points are always her own style icons: David Bowie—whom she says she’s been orbiting ever since she saw The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)—and her father, Maj. Gen. Sir John Swinton. “My aesthetic North Stars,” she calls them. “The individuals with whom I share the same planetary DNA.”
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Tilda Swinton wears Giorgio Armani wool and silk jacket, Sermoneta gloves.
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Blumarine’s wool coat and dress; Stella McCartney’s fleece wool and cashmere turtleneck; Tommy Hilfiger’s silk pants; J.W. Anderson’s cashmere skirt. Patricia Underwood for Chris Benz hat, Comme des Garçons belt, Maison Martin Margiela gloves, Rick Owens boots.
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VPL’s latex coat and dress; National Theatre Costume Hire Store’s bodysuit. Maison Martin Margiela boots.
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Céline’s cotton turtleneck. Beauty Note: Revive hair’s moisture with a thick coating of Serge Normant Meta Morphosis Hair Repair Treatment.
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Comme des Garçons’s wool jacket; Hugo Boss’s cotton and polyester shirt; Acne’s polyester skirt. Sermoneta gloves, Agent Provocateur hosiery, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci shoes.
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Zero + Maria Cornejo’s llama hair coat; Hugo Boss’s cotton turtleneck; John Rocha’s silk pants; Gucci’s silk chiffon dress. Eres cap, Rick Owens boots.
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Chloé’s leather jacket; Maison Martin Margiela’s polyurethane and polyester dress; Jil Sander’s cashmere and silk hooded turtleneck. Maison Martin Margiela gloves, Rick Owens boots.
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Hermès’s felted wool flannel dress. Stephen Jones swim cap, Hermès gloves, Rick Owens boots.
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Acne’s wool jacket; Akris’s wool dress; Tommy Hilfiger’s silk pants. LaCrasia gloves.
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Haider Ackermann’s wool caftan with silk lapels and wool pants; Ralph Lauren Black Label’s cashmere sweater. Haider Ackermann belt, Burberry shoes.
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Yves Saint Laurent’s wool sweater and silk crepe de chine blouse. Sermoneta gloves.
