Kaia Gerber Levels Up the Naked Dress with Art Deco Opulence
Kaia Gerber has abandoned her preferred LBD in favour of, well, arguably the opposite. At the New York City premiere of Ryan Murphy’s The Shards on July 27, the 24-year-old stepped out in a Valentino gown that played with exposure through bejewelled embellishments. Lined with intricate beads that shimmered as she walked, the dress created an artful sheer affect. Adorning the see-through sequins was a silver lattice pattern, which added structure and Art Deco opulence to the dress’s slinky translucence. She finished the look with a lavender fringe bag, chrome open-toed heels, and her hair in a side-parted blowout.
Gerber’s gown is the latest in a line of unique naked dresses flooding pop culture as of late. Across the spring 2026 runways, designers paired gauzy layers with unexpected motifs and trompe l’oeil textures. Schiaparelli sent Kendall Jenner down the runway in a tulle frock decorated with goat-hair polka dots. At Chanel, Matthieu Blazy paired polished tweeds with weightless translucent layers. Givenchy showed skin-baring organza that cascaded into gathered tulle. Meanwhile, Rosalìa made headlines in a latex naked dress, and months earlier, Margot Robbie embraced the power of skin-baring beads.
For her take on the trend, Gerber opted for geometric patterns and sequined draping. Still, she maintained some familiarity in the column silhouette and whisper-thin straps, which aptly reflect Gerber’s personal taste for ’90s minimalism. For the after-party, she reverted back to form with classic black slip—proving some staples are always a good choice. While her press tour looks up until this point have veered decidedly more demure, her Valentino sparkles mark a turning point in her The Shards red-carpet repertoire.
The series, which begins streaming on Hulu on August 5, follows Gerber as an ’80s-era It girl whose Los Angeles high school social circle takes a turn when a serial killer looms large. It’s sure to be full of drama, excess, and risk. Her latest naked dress certainly gets the point across.
