Few actresses have shaped the modern red carpet quite like Nicole Kidman. Long before brand deals, stylists and runway loans became the norm of awards season, Kidman understood that the red carpet could be more than a celebrity parade. It could be high fashion, it could be culture.
The turning point came at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997. Kidman arrived as the plus one of Tom Cruise, then the most powerful male box office star in Hollywood. But the moment she stepped onto the carpet in that chartreuse couture gown by John Galliano for Christian Dior, the narrative shifted. The intricately embroidered dress became an instant fashion landmark and is widely credited with bringing true couture to the Oscars. In hindsight, the symbolism feels almost perfect. She arrived as his plus one, but the dress foreshadowed a reversal of roles. The fashion world was already watching her and her understanding of that power in retrospect feels even prophetic.
Nicole Kidman, 1997.
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Kidman approaches fashion the way she approaches her acting. Fearlessly. The actress who disappeared into Virginia Woolf in “The Hours,” earning the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 75th Academy Awards, has always treated the red carpet as another stage for transformation.
Over the years she has built one of Hollywood’s strongest fashion archives. The molten gold Christian Dior couture at the 2000 Oscars, the sculptural red bow gown by Balenciaga in 2007, and her long relationship with Chanel and other power brands, all point to an actress who genuinely understands fashion.
Nicole Kidman attends the 79th Annual Academy Awards, 2007.
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More importantly, Kidman helped open the door for a generation of actresses to use the red carpet as cultural conversation. And yet she is still very much in the game. Nearly three decades after that Galliano moment, she remains a contender for best dressed every time she steps onto the Oscars carpet. Fashion obsessives like me still can’t wait to see what she wears to the Academy Awards this weekend, as she’ll be presenting. Here are some of her fashion red carpet hits over the years.
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