When Nicole Kidman heard that the theme of the 2023 Met Gala was going to be “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” did she simply reach into the back of her closet to find this Lagerfeld-designed pink gown? Because it is the same couture dress the actor wore in a 2004 commercial for the Chanel No. 5 fragrance.
Kidman’s frothy pink gown is embellished with delicate beadwork on the bodice, a lengthy chiffon ribbon tied in a bow at the shoulder, and a plethora of feathers on the skirt. With its drop-waist and just-this-side-of-scandalous center slit, the dress has a mermaid-like shape.
To contrast the soft, rosy color of the dress, Kidman accessorized with simple black sandals, a thin black watch for jewelry, and husband Keith Urban on her arm. To cap it all off, the actor wore her auburn hair in a half-up style, tied with a girlish black ribbon.
According to The Guardian, when Kidman wore this very dress in a Chanel fragrance commercial back in 2004, it was meant to evoke her role in Moulin Rouge. In the ad which, like Moulin Rouge, was directed by Baz Luhrmann, Kidman is chased by the paparazzi into a waiting taxi, which is already occupied by a hunky struggling writer.
Like the evening’s host Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman was a personal friend of Lagerfeld, which she recalled on the Met Gala carpet. “I was part of his circle,” she told , adding that she doesn’t remember the first time they met but, “I remember falling asleep on his bed.”
