Nicole Kidman Brought Moulin Rouge–Worthy Chanel to the 2026 Met Gala

Five, 10 and 3/4. [laughs]

I'm always like, I'm not five, 11.

[uplifting music]

[clapperboard shuts]

I've had so many decades now where I've been associated

with Chanel, but to be able to come back at this time

in my life is beautiful,

and with Matthieu, now designing.

But I was talking about how I used to go

and stay with Carl in Biarritz,

and then we did the cruise show in Biarritz,

and now I'm doing the Met here with Matthieu.

I'm wearing the first time his collection

has been shown in terms of the Met.

He hasn't designed a couture dress for the Met Gala yet,

so I get to wear the first.

When we were talking initially about me coming back

to the house, he just said,

I loved what you did with Carl and with Chanel,

and it was part of my evolution in terms

of the Chanel Number 5 commercial,

and that dress that I wore,

and I think we were just meant to be.

He pulled me in

because he's such a gentle person,

but he's so exquisitely talented,

and I just felt he'll take care of me,

and he'll be loving,

and he'll be generous of spirit.

You can just feel that.

You can feel that in his designs.

You can feel that in his essence.

I think there's an ease and a beauty to what he does.

So it's an incredible privilege

to be able to wear his clothes.

A lot of times,

I'm stressed,

'cause I'm like, I hope I can do them justice.

[upbeat music]

The magical thing about working

with someone like Nicole is like she's a true artist.

And to start from the museum

and you think about art, you think about history,

it's actually great to collaborate with someone

who is an artist, and Nicole is such an artist,

and also what I do as an art form,

and she kind of like leans into you

and like pours into this idea of letting you just be free.

Nicole is one of the greatest collaborators

I've ever worked with because she is incredibly fearless.

She can get into these beautiful characters

that we kind of build together.

I mean, no wonder she's been nominated many times

for an Oscar,

and no wonder she's one

of our greatest celebrated artists, right,

because she loves collaborating with talent.

I have been working with her,

I think it's maybe consistently about four years.

I did actually do a cover of Vogue

with Nicole years ago in the English countryside.

I think I was pregnant with my second at the time.

Her ongoing story with Chanel is couture.

She is couture.

We think about it from every carpet

that Nicole has ever touched,

it's couture.

So it's, that's the house that's so identifiable

with that word.

That's why I am pretty sure they both starts

with the letter C, because Chanel couture,

and like, you know, we have this internal joke

that she's Lady Couture.

[upbeat music]

I'm such a fan in what he's doing,

blowing this beautiful fresh air back into Chanel,

the DNA that he's like really kind

of enhanced is so important.

It was just, it's nice to collaborate with someone

who is open to listening and feeling what you're saying.

So the collaboration was easy and spectacular.

We talked, then we had a fitting in Biarritz,

and then we adjusted again and he just keeps,

he sees it,

and then he creates it more and creates it more.

And that's what I've always said

is that I love being the doll.

I love standing there

and having it designed around your body.

So I came up with a couple ideas

and we talked about some things,

and this color red just kept jumping off the page for me.

And it's something to note in history that, you know,

red is such a dynamic color when you think

of most paintings,

and it's something that just draws people

and it's very dynamic, and it's very sensual,

and it's very like strong,

and yet at the same time effortless.

It's not as easy as you think

because a lot of the time,

I still have not seen the dress on.

This is the day of the met you guys, okay?

And I still have not seen the dress on.

I have seen photos, I did some FaceTime,

but to actually visually feel and see I have not done that.

And so it's a beautiful process of collaboration.

My intention is to make her the most gorgeous version

of herself, and just make her feel the most confident

she's ever felt.

You know, I wanna make sure that her complexion

looks as beautiful

and harmonizes with the dress as humanly possible.

The finish of the skin, the complexion,

I've always been known for that.

People often say to me,

they can tell when I've done the makeup

because of the quality of the skin,

which is such a nice compliment.

So you know what?

People don't understand

this is a lot of work. [chuckles]

It's a lot, a lot of work.

And outside of me, it is the people

who all touch the gown, from the ateliers,

to like people who just carry these things.

It's a lot of work and it's a lot of energy

and it's a lot of passion that goes into it.

And that's a piece for me

a large art form as well.

So when you think about artist fashion,

it's like we,

from start to finish, a slice of art,

a slice of an artist has touched this moment.

It's a lot.

You are the steward,

you are greeting everybody.

You're standing at the top of those magnificent stairs.

You're standing there with that iconic sort of feeling

of what the Met represents, the museum and art.

And there's so much history.

When hair has this incredible elongation,

it can form around the body

as a language, ultimately.

And I think hair is a very powerful tool

and has been for many, many years.

You know, when you think

of Tina Turner, you think of her hair.

When you think of Dolly Parton, you think of her hair.

When you think of Cher, you think of her hair.

Hair walks into the room first.

A lot of the time it is about self expression

where you are in your life, right?

I can remember haircuts more than I can remember

a lot of things, sometimes for the good

and sometimes for the bad.

We sometimes got like boop over by getting a bad haircut.

Hair is one of your greatest accessories.

And tonight, I used it as a form of art.

This particular dress is covered

in this most amazing flat beating.

There's these feathers that trim the cuff,

and the cascade throughout her waistline.

And it's something about it that just feels like liquid.

It's literally like she's been dipped

in such this beautiful candy apple.

It kind of feels that way.

And, you know, even just saying that out loud,

it's just something that just the, the color red

is so symbolic for me with, like, New York,

like the big apple and things like that.

There's all these great artful plays

for what you're gonna see tonight with this dress.

I'm really excited for what the final look will be.

Today I'm working with Cle de Peau,

and I'm excited to get going. [laughs]

When you have it all together

and you're walking up those stairs, something magic happens.

Partly being able

to wear clothes was something I could do ever since

I was little, because I was so tall.

And it's lovely to be still asked

to do that at this time in my life.

And then to be able to bring my daughter who's blooming,

and what she's wearing tonight shows that it's springtime,

it's blossoming, it's blooming.

And I'm wearing red, which is the deepest form of love.

It represents love.

And so to be her loving mother

while she's blossoming is kind of lovely.

I hope it's gonna be a great night.

I hope we're gonna see beautiful, beautiful creations,

'cause we're seeing fashion as art.

And let's go. Let's have some fun. [laughs]

[uplifting music]