Met Gala 2024: Nicole Kidman Turns Back Time in 1950s-Inspired Balenciaga Gown

Nicole Kidman certainly turned back the clock in her Balenciaga look at the Met Gala.

Designed by creative director Demna Gvasalia, the Oscar-winning star stepped out in a 1950s-inspired white double silk bustier and flared skirt over frayed layers of black silk organza to mimic feathers. The original gown was inspired by the ruffled dresses worn by flamenco dancers, a nod to Balenciaga’s Spanish heritage.

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“It was based on a dress in 1951 by Balenciaga at that time by Cristóbal,” Kidman told La La Anthony on the red carpet. “It was something that I saw in [a Richard] Avedon photo [of Dorian Leigh from Harper’s Bazaar]. I asked Demna if he was willing to reinterpret it. So he reinterpreted it in the vein of the sleeping beauties and the gowns, bringing them back to life. So I consider this to be a ‘Sleeping Beauty’ brought back to life. It’s an honor to be able to bring it back to life.”

Styled by Jason Bolden, Kidman finished her ’50s-inspired look with Harry Winston cluster diamond earrings with approximately 15 carats and the jeweler’s Secret Combination 6-karat diamond bracelet, both set in platinum.

According to Vogue, Kidman’s gown required 800 hours of embroidery to apply the 3,000 organza feathers, and an additional 400 hours to create the white bodice and silk skirt pieces.

At last year’s Karl Lagerfeld-focused fundraiser, Kidman paid homage to her iconic Chanel N°5 perfume campaign in a custom gown by the Parisian fashion house embellished with 250 pink feathers and over 3,000 silver crystals and sequins.

This year’s dress code, “The Garden of Time,” takes its cue from the 1962 short story of the same name by J.G. Ballard, which dovetails nicely with the latest Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, which opens to the public on Friday, May 10. The Andrew Bolton-curated show spotlights fragile pieces from the institute’s archives, all viewed through a lens of nature. The exhibit’s coffee table book will be released on June 18. Read more of The Hollywood Reporter’s Met Gala coverage here.

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