Nicole Kidman’s Balenciaga look at the Met Gala 2024

For the 2024 Met Gala, brand ambassador actress Nicole Kidman wore a custom Balenciaga gown that directly referenced a Couture piece designed and created by Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1951, immortalized by Richard Avedon on Dorian Leigh shot for Harper’s Bazaar April issue on February 1951. This dress is made of white double silk satin bustier with tail is worn over a long-flared skirt with hand-frayed organza feather-like embroidery. The dress has been replicated from the original Cristobal Balenciaga sketch which differs slightly from the actual dress in that the front of the skirt is a perfect ellipse and the curve not indented. This unique piece took about 400 hours to create. It involved intricate hand-detailing in collaboration with Amal Embroideries on approximately 3,000 petals, made from 150 meters of fabric. The embroidery was studied to replicate the vivid movement captured in an Avedon photograph. Inspired by his Spanish heritage, Cristóbal Balenciaga reinterpreted a flamenco dancer’s full, flounced dress. In his version, black organza petals cascade down the skirt front, softly framed by the cutaway skirt of a removable white cotton overdress. This stunning modernization of an iconic design embodies the timelessness of the House’s Couture heritage, founded by M. Balenciaga and continued today by Demna.