2019: Dripping in Mugler
Kardashian took a dramatic turn at the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” gala. She arrived in a nude-colored Thierry Mugler dress covered in dangling crystals, designed to look like she had just stepped out of water.
“Mugler drip. Straight out of the ocean,” she tweeted. It was Mugler’s first design in two decades.
The dress required a corset so tight, she took breathing lessons and couldn’t sit all night. In Keeping Up With the Kardashians, West called the dress “too sexy.” Kardashian disagreed, calling his reaction “absolutely ridiculous.”
The look was partly inspired by Raquel Welch’s wet look in the 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin.
2021: Anonymous in Balenciaga
At the “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” gala, Kardashian wore an all-black Balenciaga ensemble that covered her from head to toe. The outfit included a face mask and 75 inches of hair extensions, reportedly worth $10,000.
While Demna, the brand’s designer, joined her on the carpet, the idea was inspired by West. A source told Page Six Style that he encouraged her to push boundaries.
“I fought against it,” Kardashian later admitted, but the faceless design proved a point. “People would know instantly it was Kim because of her silhouette,” Demna told Vogue.
2022: Channeling Marilyn Monroe
In 2022, Kardashian wore the actual Jean Louis gown Marilyn Monroe donned in 1962 to sing “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy. The dress fit the “gilded glamour” dress code for “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.”
To wear the crystal-covered dress, Kardashian lost 16 pounds in three weeks. “I would wear a sauna suit twice a day, run on the treadmill, completely cut out all sugar and all carbs,” she told Vogue.
Since the historic gown couldn’t be altered, she only wore it briefly before switching to a replica for the rest of the evening.
2023: Dripping in Pearls by Schiaparelli
Kardashian’s 2023 look paid tribute to Karl Lagerfeld for the “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” theme. She wore a custom Schiaparelli ensemble made of over 50,000 freshwater pearls and 16,000 crystals. Her corset was made of blush-toned satin.
“What is more Karl? The iconic Chanel pearls is what I always thought of,” she told Vogue.
Some gems fell off the look before she even stepped on the carpet, but daughter North was there to collect them. She completed the look with pearl-trimmed heels and a statement Lorraine Schwartz choker, drawing comparisons to her 2007 Playboy cover.
