varo | The Genealogy of Style

Tim Walker and actress Tilda Swinton created a series of phantasmagorias inspired by artists Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, and other muses and collaborators of English eccentric, poet, and surrealist collector Edward James.

Cover of W magazine. Modern Beauty issue. May 2013

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci dress; Cornelia James gloves

Vera Wang Collection dress; Vicki Beamon lips and fingertips; Cornelia James gloves

Acne Studios gown

Maison Martin Margiela dress and gloves

Rick Owens jacket and dress

Ann Demeulemeester dress; Cornelia James gloves

Balmain jacket; Max Mara jacket; Swinton’s own Olivier Saillard gloves

Rochas dress; National Theatre Costume Hire underskirt; Cornelia James gloves; Céline pumps

Angels the Costumiers cape; Gucci gown; Vicki Beamon mask; Cornelia James gloves

Azzedine Alaïa top, skirt, and shoes; Emilio Cavallini bodysuit; Alexander McQueen headpiece

Louis Vuitton dress and shoes; Cornelia James gloves; Emilio Cavallini tights

Haider Ackermann shirt and trousers

Mary Katrantzou dress; Cornelia James gloves

Giorgio Armani blouse, skirt, and pants; Haider Ackermann dress; Ann Demeulemeester top; Cornelia James gloves; Prada gaiters and socks

Francesco Scognamiglio dress

Jeffrey Costello (left), Roberto Tagliapietra, their late cosseted bulldog Sam and model. Photograph by Norman Jean Roy. Published in Vogue, November 2006.

Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra met on the set of Madonna’s Bedtime Story video (Mark Romanek, 1995) and have lived together ever since (they are happily married now). They are a very charming pair of fashion designers who know how to cut, sew, drape and finish a lean, clean, sophisticated dress. Their looks reminds one of Halston’s elegant jersey dresses in the seventies and Madame Grès’ evening gowns.

Initially named Let’s Get Conscious, Bedtime Story was written by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, Marius De Vries and Nellee Hooper, and co-produced by Nellee Hooper and Madonna. According to the book Björk: Wow and Flutter by Mark Pytlik, she was offered a chance to write a track for Madonna’s upcoming album, Bedtime Stories. The song was the third single of that album.

Some scenes were inspired by the 1968 Russian-Armenian film The Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1968) . It was considered an ultra-artistic video with surrealist references from René Magritte to Remedios Varo and from Leonora Carrington to Frida Kahlo