“It Gives Me A Cloak Of Supportive Identity”: Tilda Swinton On Her Chanel Look At The 2025 Golden Globes

Tilda Swinton is no stranger to the red carpet.

Nominated for her role in The Room Next Door at this year’s Golden Globes, the British actress collaborated with the Chanel ateliers to create her custom look, which reinterpreted a look from the Maison’s spring/summer 1986 collection.

Vintage-inspired looks have long held court on the red carpet, and this year was no different, with celebs showing up in everything from archival dresses to custom couture directly inspired by Old Hollywood starlets. But what set Swinton’s look apart was how resolutely modern and timelessly regal it felt, despite being inspired by a look that was first debuted almost four decades ago. 

Below, Swinton shares her thoughts on wearing Chanel to kick off the awards season, and talks about her long-term partnership with House, as well as her nomination for the 2025 Golden Globes.

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How did you feel about being nominated for the Golden Globes for The Room Next Door?

Highly honoured, and deeply touched. This film is extraordinarily personal for all of us who made it, quite humbly offered, vulnerable and close to the heart. I wenr to California this new year to celebrate our work together and the friendship the film is built upon, both in its narrative and its making.

Could you describe the look that you wore and the emotions it conveyed?

I am wearing a look created by my friends in the Haute Couture atelier at Chanel: according to the eternal codes of the house, something very simple, timeless and chic. A black silk velvet skirt and a jacket made of encrusted cream paillettes, it resonates for me like a dress uniform. It represents—this ‘uniform’—not only my allegiance to my filmmaking comrades on The Room Next Door, but also my long and profound fellowship with the house of Chanel.

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Generally, what is it like wearing Chanel at a ceremony or event such as the Golden Globes? What kind of feelings does it evoke?

Constancy. Legacy. A modesty of elegance. And, in couture especially, the fellowship of a thousand hours undertaken by many magic hands. As a soldier’s daughter, I take very seriously this honour of representing the ‘regiment’ : it gives me a cloak of supportive identity which I hold dear at all times.

Your history with Chanel goes back years. What memories from Chanel stayed with you all these years?

Way too many to mention. But, from Paris to Venice, from Havana to Hangzhou to Tokyo to Monaco to Dubai to Shanghai to Manchester and all points in between, all Chanel experiences without fail are marked by a consistency of wonder, impeccable artistry, detailed care—and reliable downright fun had with exceptionally kind and nice people. The crew of the intergalactic ship of Chanel has to be the most advanced and sensationally privileged band in existence. It is one of the pleasures of my life to serve on board.

Chanel has deep, longtime ties to the worlds of dance, art, literature, and of course cinema. Why is the House’s commitment to the arts so vital?

The House of Chanel continues to impress me deeply with its settled commitment to a unique role as cultural patron around the world. Chanel continues to focus the energies on the encouragement of artists, both emerging and established, in providing inspired and ongoing support, both financial and by way of setting up a wide web of community on which artists may rely.

At a time when arts funding for many parts of the world is either critically threatened or non-existent, and living an artist’s life ever more difficult to sustain, such a gesture of emboldened fellowship has never been more crucial. We need art at a time like this more than we might acknowledge—it is our best hope for enlightenment and, as Gabrielle Chanel would say, it is our next resort—and for a vibrant art to flourish, we need to protect and nourish the lives of the artists who make it.