With only three marriages under her belt, Kim Kardashian has five more trips down the aisle before she can truly be compared with movie star Elizabeth Taylor β but on the Paris runway for Balenciaga, she did her best.
Kardashian appeared in the final haute couture show for the brand by designer Demna, wearing earrings that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, in an outfit inspired by her character Maggie in the 1958 movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Kim Kardashian arriving at the Balenciaga show in Paris and modelling Balenciaga haute couture, autumn/winter, 2025/2026.Credit: Getty Images, Supplied
In her second appearance on the haute couture runway, following her 2022 Balenciaga debut, Kardashian wore a clinging, ivory lingerie-inspired slip dress, with an off-white feathered coat falling off her shoulders.
Kardashian is a fan of Taylor and purchased three jade and diamond bracelets at a 2011 auction that belonged to the legendary actress. For the Balenciaga show, the earrings were borrowed from jeweller Lorraine Schwartz, who purchased them at auction for $US374,500 ($572,890) in 2011.
βThe Golden Age of Hollywood, a perpetual obsession of mine, informs a study of Old Hollywood glamour,β Demna wrote in his notes for the collection. βA black sequined βDivaβ gown inspired by Marilyn Monroe, a pink βDebutanteβ princess dress in the worldβs lightest technical organza.β
Rather than share the runway with Kardashian again, Nicole Kidman, an ambassador for the fashion house founded by Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga in 1937, watched from the front row. Wearing a single-button black blazer and narrow pants with pointed glossy heels, the Australian Oscar-winner looked ready for a high-fashion remake of The Matrix.
Kidman was joined in the front row by Naomi Watts and her 16-year-old daughter Kai Schreiber, who modelled at the Celine ready-to-wear show earlier in the week.
βThereβs something truly magical about coutureβitβs when fashion becomes pure art,β Watts told US Vogue. βThis year feels especially meaningful with it being Demnaβs final show, and I was so excited to experience it with my girl. Sheβs really immersed herself in the fashion world now, which makes it all the more special.β