Kim Kardashian at the Academy Museum Gala Wore a 75-Year-Old Dress and 65 Carats of Diamonds — and It Worked

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Miracle Mile in Los Angeles held its sixth annual gala on Saturday nite, October 17. The red carpet outside appeared to be a fashion week finale that someone unintentionally mixed with an Oscar afterparty. Just the list of attendees, which includes Taylor Swift, Charlize Theron, Kendall Jenner, Sabrina Carpenter, Demi Moore, Pamela Anderson, Goldie Hawn, Jacob Elordi, and A$AP Rocky, suggests that this event has subtly evolved into one of Hollywood’s more authentically glamorous nights. Not the largest. Perhaps the best-dressed, though.

Kim Kardashian showed up wearing a vintage Balenciaga dress from 1951. a sweeping bow train, ivory soutache embroidery, a draped blush satin bodice, and a strapless column silhouette. Designed by Law Roach, who is starting to become one of those people whose name on a credit line instantly makes the conversation more interesting. Her hair was sculpted into a dramatic bouffant that every outlet within an hour was comparing to Elizabeth Taylor, and the diamond choker and earrings, reportedly weighing 65 carats, completed the look. It’s not a stretch to compare. There’s a feeling that this was a purposeful, well-thought-out moment—old Hollywood framing applied to a person who has spent her entire career creating a completely different kind of celebrity.

The fact that Kardashian wore a Margiela mask to the same event last year added intrigue. Something equally architectural the year prior. This year’s 1951 Balenciaga archive piece fits the pattern of treating the Academy Museum Gala specifically as a venue for a particular kind of statement—more deliberate, more referential than, say, the Met Gala. During that time, Cristóbal Balenciaga was producing clothing that appeared to be slightly out of style, as though they were a response to something more enduring. Wearing an item from that collection to a film history preservation gala is either a very happy coincidence or a very deliberate parallel. It might be both.

Over $14 million was raised for the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs on that particular nite. Three people were honored at the event, which was co-chaired by Tom Ford, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg, and Kate Capshaw. Sigourney Weaver gave Charlize Theron the Icon Award. The Luminary Award was finally given to John Carpenter, the director of Halloween, The Thing, and Escape from New York. The Vantage Award went to Colman Domingo. These aren’t the flashy, contentious decisions that award shows occasionally rely on to garner attention. They are just the right decisions, and when that occurs, it’s refreshing.

Taylor Swift’s performance at the end of the evening garnered the kind of breathless coverage that these kinds of moments typically bring. She went to Dior. Jacob Elordi walked apart from Kendall Jenner, who arrived in a custom Valentino, as couples at these events frequently do when the individual fashion moment counts. Sabrina Carpenter wore jewelry from Chopard and Giorgio Armani Privé. Ana de Armas was wearing Louis Vuitton. Standing Ground features Demi Moore. According to red carpet tallies, over 170 celebrities were on the guest list. This is an incredible concentration of well-known faces for a single evening in Los Angeles.

There’s a sense that the Academy Museum Gala has found its identity in a way that sometimes takes ten years, as you watch everything come together. It is not attempting to compete with the Met Gala in terms of conceptual outrageousness or the Oscars in terms of scale. It’s more subdued than both, and its instincts are more cinematic. This is reflected in the fashion choices, which tend to draw from archives and seek out items with a backstory. In 1951, Kim Kardashian wearing Balenciaga made perfect sense. That’s precisely why it was successful.