How Heidi Klum transformed into 2026 Met Gala sculpture look
Heidi Klum's 2026 Met Gala look was perhaps one of the most unique interpretations of the evening's "Fashion is Art" dress code.
The supermodel turned heads on the Met Gala steps Monday night when she arrived looking like a literal piece of art.
Klum's look, achieved with the help of prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino, was a complete head-to-toe transformation into a living sculpture.
In the caption of a video post shared on her Instagram page the morning after the Met Gala, Klum described her take on the dress code as "a piece of fine art, reimagined in motion."
"There is nothing I love more than creative collaboration with true artists who worked tirelessly to turn this idea of transforming fabric into sculpture into what the world saw on the steps of the Met," she wrote. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
In the video, Marino, who has worked with Klum previously on her iconic Halloween costumes, said the two discussed the idea of turning her into a sculpture when she first called him about her Met Gala ensemble.
"There was one sculpture ... called 'The Veiled Virgin' or 'The Veiled Vestal' by Raffaelle Monti. We both thought it was perfect," Marino said of the inspiration for the eventual look, referencing Monti's famed 1847 sculpture, which is a marble depiction of an Ancient Roman Vestal Virgin.
A press release about Klum's look from media company Full Picture added that the costume was also inspired by the marble "Veiled Christ" tomb effigy, carved by by Giuseppe Sanmartino and completed in 1753.
"Heidi will be a living version of a sculpture right at the steps of the most amazing museum of New York and one of the most amazing museums in the world," Marino said in the video.
The makeup artist said that bringing Klum's look to life began with a 3D scan of the model's entire body. Then, based on the scan, the design team began to sculpt all aspects of the statue, including the folds of the fabric and more.
A press release states that materials used for Klum's look included latex and spandex, which helped capture "the stillness and presence of marble while allowing for movement and life within the form."
Marino said several of the methods they used to bring Klum's look to life involved some of the same methods that many classical artists employed when working with materials like bronze or marble, only with advanced materials and technology.
The video also showed the process of getting Klum in the costume with the help of a team of people and Marino meticulously painting details onto Klum's face.
Marino said Klum's look was "one of the hardest designs we've ever created," noting that the look not only had to look like a sculpture, but it had to move and look flawless.
For those wondering whether Klum could sit in her Met Gala look, the video showed Klum sitting in the bus on the way to the Met Gala.
"Fashion is art, art is fashion," Klum told Ashley Graham and Cara Delevingne for Vogue on the red carpet.
She added, "I look hard but I'm soft. I can sit, I can eat."
When asked how she was able to get in and out of her look, Klum said that there was a zipper somewhere in the back of the costume and joked that she might enlist Graham and Delevingne's help later when she would need to use the restroom.
She also joked that getting ready for the carpet took her "20 minutes, in and out."
See all the looks from fashion's biggest night here.
