Originally appeared in The Action Issue, June 2003
The Paris collections, March 10th 2003. Backstage at the Viktor & Rolf show, an army of extra-terrestrial redheads stand in line, their pale faces strangely luminescent in the half-light. As the first of these beguiling aliens beams down onto the podium, a reverential silence befalls the chattering flock of beady-eyed fashion magpies. ‘Is it? Isn’t it?’ This first immaculate silhouette sets the pace, confidently gliding forward, dispelling any lingering scepticism with a wry smile and the roll of a sharply tailored hip. And so a fashion icon is born, as actress Ms Tilda Swinton marches towards the cameras to claim her Oscar in what is, without doubt, a consumate catwalk performance in one of the seaon’s best shows.Cut to: Nairn, the Scottish Highlands, March 20th 2003. Ms Swinton, star of the The Deep End, Adaptation and The Beach, close friend and collaborator of the late Derek Jarman and Ewan Macgregor’s squeeze in the up and coming existential thriller Young Adam, is on her hands and knees in wet mud. Her five-year-old twins, Xavier and Honor, are hanging onto various parts of her practically clad anatomy as she gleefully tends to the vegetable garden at the Arts And Crafts house she shares with her partner, artist and writer John Byrne. Here, the only labels are to be found on jam jars, shoes are most definitely sensible (as Manolo has yet to ‘do a wellie’) and you can be sure that Nostalgia of Mud is not an overpriced vintage garment you buy at Rockit.Welcome to the worlds of Tilda Swinton. Actress, artiste, agente provocatrice, übermodel and mother, the 40-year-old Bowie Queen of Scots reigns supreme over a veritable Bermuda triangle of parallel universes. And yet she seems to navigate their diverging orbits and contending force-fields with stellar ease and sparkling wit. So how does the Lady do it? Ground control to Major Swinton…Be yourself, only you
Interview and styling: Jerry Stafford
Photography: Craig McDean
Fashion Director: Edward Enninful
