In absolute silence, Tilda Swinton appears on the runway of Viktor & Rolf’s AW03 runway. 

Wearing a puff-sleeved alt-suit and a crisp, undone white shirt, as usual, Swinton is marching to the beat of her own drum: in this instance, quite literally. Swinton’s distant yet oddly soothing voice envelops the dark space, as she begins to recite a hypnotic series of words, which may today be found on the landing page of a bougie fitness website or emblazoned on the wall of your friendly local wellness centre.  

“Separate the signal from the noise… Listen… Hear your own ears… Cut the strings, be yourself, only you… Walk… Follow your own path, go at your own pace… Find your origin… Listen to your limbs… Walk… It’s all about balance, it’s all in the knees, one foot in front of the other,” the actor’s disjointed voice commands, with the utmost sincerity, as she struts. 

But then this was the 00s: long before the inspirational quote was co-opted by influencers and Instagrammers, and etched misguidedly onto the skin of gap year students during a month-long tour of Thailand. This was before the inspirational quote meant the opposite of inspirational. This, back then, in the hands of the iconic Tilda Swinton, was visionary. And tbh, we live, laugh, love it.