Tilda Swinton is the perennial fashion muse – a powerful woman whose natural poise and striking beauty have lent her the unwavering fervour of fashion designers across the world. With heavyweights like Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, Raf Simons at Jil Sander and of course Haider Ackermann, Tilda has participated in an organic exchange of energy and publicity – lending her face and lithe frame to some of their most daring creations on film and across the red carpet.

Some years before her avant-garde aura took the film and fashion worlds’ by storm, Olivier Theyskens chose Tilda as the subject for this inspiring collection of images for NºD. Opting for the rich, theatrical aesthetic of Parisian photographer Ali Mahdavi, Olivier styled the story together with French accessories designer Loulou de la Falaise (a long-time friend and muse of Yves Saint Laurent).

The images are an eerie contrast, offering soft-focus shots of naked baby mice and a hairless sphynx cat with the porcelain-skinned actress – who poses in layers of opulent necklaces from Loulou’s own designs and private collection. Deathly pale and devoid of expression, Tilda barely raises colour or emotion against the cool green backdrop, maintaining an icy elegance mirrored only by her somewhat unusual pets.

Photography: Ali Mahdavi.
Styling: Loulou de la Falaise & Olivier Theyskens.
Makeup: Mina Matsamura
Hair: Frédéric Mennetrier
Production: Eugenia Melian.
Thanks to: Ariel de Ravenel, Jerry Stafford, Janvier (Paris) : retouching, Mandrake Production, Tilda Swinton.

Above: Flower brooch by Loulou de la Falaise.

Above: Taffeta blouse and semi-precious stone necklace by Loulou de la Falaise. Oriental necklace, private collection.

Above: Pinstripe pantsuit by Loulou de la Falaise. All necklaces, private collection.

A is proud to announce that the next occasion of Pitti Immagine in Florence, Italy will play host to two of our most esteemed collaborators as the guest designers for the mens and womens collections showings.

As the 78th edition of Pitti Uomo, the designer who will present their spring summer 2011 mens collection is Raf Simons for Jil Sander. Having shown his ten year retrospective in 2005 at Pitti, Raf returns at the helm of Jil Sander. In the words of Pitti director Lapo Cianchi:

“for us, having seen his recent work for Jil Sander, we are again – or rather still – fascinated by his extraordinary ability to be in step with the times”.

As the 6th edition of Pitti W, presenting his pre-spring 2011 collection will be none other than A#3′s curator Haider Ackermann.

“We have been tracking Haider Ackermann since his first shows in Paris and now that his poetic, his visionary talent and his feeling for memory have come together with increasing dramatic and seductive force, we decided that the time has come to offer him a different stage – our stage where he can feel free to continue his personal story or perhaps even be inspired to experiment with something new. We too are very curious”.

The next Pitti Immagine takes place in Florence between the 15th and 18th of June 2010, and is an international fashion trade fair. At its highest level, Pitti provides a new and exciting stage for fashion designers to explore different mediums and a new environment to express their vision and reach a new audience through creatively focused fashion events.

Click here to see our previous coverage of their unique work, with last year’s UNDERCOVER and Proenza Schouler events.

Jun Takahashi has reinterpreted this campaign image from Jil Sander, mirroring the composition yet subverting the minimalist aesthetic of the original image – with rich 19th century dress, curled locks and a multitude of eyes covering the face!

[left] Jil Sander Fall Winter 2006 Campaign photographed by Willy Vanderperre, styled by Joe McKenna.

[right] UNDERCOVER creative response by Jun Takahashi.