Heads turn when Tilda Swinton walks into a room but it's hard to pinpoint why, exactly. Is it because she's tall? Is it because she has wide shoulders? Or is it because she is, in her own words, 'pretty white'? Perhaps it's a combination of the three.
She's the first to admit hers is not a typical beauty; in truth, there isn't much that is typical about her - from her unorthodox lifestyle to the film roles she has taken, Swinton has consistently defied convention.
The heads turning in her direction on this occasion belong to those who have gathered for a Pringle of Scotland cocktail party at the Saatchi Gallery, in London. Dressed in a white dinner jacket, a pair of slim-cut trousers and heels that exaggerate those already wide shoulders, with her startlingly platinum blond hair gelled back, the 1.79-metres-tall Oscar winner looks remarkably like David Bowie.
She is here for the presentation of Pringle's spring/summer 2010 collection and to be introduced as the face of both the men's and women's lines. 'I'm a menswear model; how cool is that?' Swinton will remark later.
Although her father is Scottish, Swinton's new role comes as a surprise. Her atypical looks hardly sit with Pringle's image of heavy knits and the actress herself has expressed a liking for deconstructed brands such as Maison Martin Margiela and Jean Paul Gaultier. And, for years, she's been a muse for Viktor & Rolf, a brand that likes to think of its fashion as 'an antidote to reality'.
One of the factors that drew Swinton to the project was the opportunity to work with American artist and photographer Ryan McGinley, who made a short film and shot the stills for the Pringle campaign, which will be launched next month.