Tilda Swinton’s recent speech at the opening of the V&A Bowie exhibit really struck a chord here with us at the ‘Cult. Excerpts of it have been on my fridge since I first read it in it’s entirely. Despite us all being rabid Bowie fans here the speech is just a perfect flag waving to every misfit, alien, and freak. Delivered beautifully and cleverly, in ways we probably wouldn’t be able to.

The whole speech can be read here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/b/blog/va-network/tilda-swintons-dinner-speech-opening-david-bowie?sf10717152=1

“Yet, I think the thing I’m loving the most about the last few weeks  is how clear it now is – how undeniable – that the freak becomes the great unifier

The alien is the best company after all

For so many more than the few.”

Bowie’s career and scope has unified so many people, all while he followed no definitions, and strode along as a perfect “freak”. That is very inspiring to us here.

When asked what Gloomth aims to be I often think of it as my personal love letter to the Misfits of the Misfits. Creating beauty and a mode of outward expression for the peculiar, to build a little world where strange is wonderful- that can be carried forth into the “real” world. The speech at the V&A made me think of that, to feel a little more sure about our choice to never do the expected.

We are the “aliens”. We don’t fit in, we aren’t easily slipped into categories or shuffled into rows. We’re outside of the lines, outside of the definitions- and the older I get the more that becomes a source of pride for me. In my business and in my life. We don’t fit in and why the hell would we want to?

There’s a power in forging your own path and ignoring definitions and silly expectations. Bowie’s amazing career is a great example of this, doing things no one else was with integrity and passion! Being true to yourself and honouring your creative vision *will* pay off because people are attracted to the genuine. You can’t win faking it, you can’t play pretend and expect to be truly understood.

So go be amazing, freaks! 😉

-Taeden