Kim Kardashian Can’t Get Enough of 2003 McQueen
In 2020, Kim Kardashian attended the Oscars after parties in a stunning archival design from Alexander McQueen known as the “oyster” dress. Half a decade later, Kardashian tracked down a second look from the same legendary runway show—only to wear it not under flashbulbs, but on the beach.
Kardashian slipped into a nude-hued sheer dress from McQueen’s spring 2003 “Irere” runway show for a late-night beach trip in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (She was there to promote her new legal drama, All’s Fair). With braided shoulder straps, a corseted bodice with pleats, and a tattered skirt, the archival design—which was sourced from One of a Kind Archive—was pure shipwreck glamour. In fact, the piece is known as the “shipwreck” dress among McQueen collectors.
During the show, a short video was played in the background showing a model wearing the design while swimming away from a shipwreck. On the runway, it was paired with messy, wet-look hair and smudged eye makeup.
Kim fully submerged herself in the dress (and didn’t appear to even lose a diamond earring during this dip). Though not everyone was pleased by the photoshoot. “You are such a freak for being in that water at night!” wrote sister Khloé Kardashian in the comments. “It’s SUPER DARK outside in those pictures!! Are you well?” You can’t please them all.
It’s likely that Kardashian purchased this look, considering her sprawling vintage archive and the fact that she felt safe enough to expose a decades-old dress to salt water. And it’s now apparent that the Skims founder has a penchant for this specific McQueen collection.
At the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar party, Kardashian had one of the buzzier fashion moments of the evening when she wore an archival McQueen number. Dubbed the “oyster” dress by fashion critics, its structure is reminiscent of a pearl encased in a deconstructing shell.
For Inspiration, McQueen’s “Irere” collection looked to the Age of Discovery’s explorers and conquistadors and the garb of the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon. It was not only a display of McQueen’s couture prowess, but also of his commercial sensibility. The house’s now-iconic skull print debuted during the show, as did their rosary heels, a style Rosalía just wore for her “Berghain” video.
Furthering the vintage bona fides, both of Kardashian’s dresses appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2011 exhibition, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Reportedly, only two versions of each dress exist: a pair held by the Met and the pair now in Kardashian’s possession.
