Backstory: Planet Tilda

Tilda Swinton wears high fashion as easily as most of us sport a pair of jeans. Here, a look back at some of the maverick Scot’s most stylish moments.

Serving as star and muse, Swinton opened the Dutch duo’s runway show to a soundtrack of her own voice, and was followed by a succession of pale-skinned, copper-haired clones.

Swinton was a fan of Haider Ackermann long before he became fashion’s It boy. The cranberry silk skirt and tailcoat from his fall 2009 collection were the first of many looks by the designer that Swinton has worn to great effect.

Swinton gave a brilliant performance as a repressed housewife in Luca Guadagnino’s tragic love story. Equally memorable was her elegant wardrobe, designed exclusively by Raf Simons for Jil Sander.

To give its brand a little edge, Pringle of Scotland tapped Swinton to be the face of its men’s and women’s ad campaigns, shot by Ryan McGinley. It was so successful that the label brought the pair back for the following season. This fall she’ll once again star in Pringle’s ads, photographed by Walter Pfeiffer.

Although it had its detractors (one critic called it “death in a trash bag”), Swinton’s one-armed Grecian Lanvin gown—worn to accept the best supporting actress award for her role in Michael Clayton—was, in our opinion, supremely goddesslike.

The rest of Hollywood sported sparkling strapless confections, but Swinton appeared strikingly minimalist in Jil Sander’s lemony satin skirt and crisp white shirt.

Photos: I Am Love: courtesy of the Everett Collection; Viktor & Rolf runway: CNP/Montrose; all others: Getty images.