Heidi Klum is unrecognizable in bizarre living statue outfit on Met Gala red carpet

Heidi Klum has never shied away from making a bold statement on the red carpet, and her appearance at Monday night’s Met Gala was no exception, as the star stepped out looking like a real-life marble statue.

The supermodel arrived on the green carpet in a custom outfit by Mike Marino, which was inspired by classical works like the Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sammartino and the Veiled Vestal by Raffaele Monti.

The outfit made her into a living sculpture using materials like spandex and latex, and she joked to the media that it only took her “20 minutes” to get ready before heading to fashion’s night of nights. 

The theme for the 2026 Met Gala is Costume Art, while the dress code is Fashion Is Art, a concept which Heidi took seriously. The dress code asks guests to “illuminate the indivisible connection between clothing and the body” and the “complex interplay between artistic representations of the body and fashion as an embodied art form.”

“I started at the Met. I went walking around in the Met, and I was like this is so beautiful and the drape and it’s all the marble,” she told Vogue of her inspiration.

“But how do you do that with fabric? Because I look hard, but I’m soft. I can sit. I can eat. It’s foam and latex. I like it to be a little confusing. It’s an illusion.”

© Getty Images for The Met Museum/

The mother of four opened up to Elle about her boldness on the red carpet, sharing that she liked to play by a “more is more” philosophy. “I feel like I am out, there’s people all over the place that see when I’m going somewhere. I’m not gonna go in something snoozy,” she explained.

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“I feel like I’m in the industry of dreaming, of exploring newness, seeing different makeup or outfits, so I feel like I need to be wearing these fun things.” As for the looks that aren’t as popular, Heidi shared that she does “not want to change” when it comes to her fashion sense. 

“I was on the [fashion] don’t page so many times, there were these fashion TV shows you just walk the carpet and they rip you to shreds, but I feel like we’re all individually different. I was always more colorful, and I wouldn’t listen to anybody.” 

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The 52-year-old is no stranger to a jaw-dropping costume that gets everyone talking, thanks to her longstanding tenure as the Queen of Halloween. Heidi throws a Halloween bash each year for the A-list, and ensures that she has the strangest, wackiest and most talked-about costume of the night. 

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In 2025, she went as Medusa, the mythical creature with living snakes instead of hair who can turn people to stone with one look. 

In previous years, she dressed up as E.T from Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a peacock, a giant worm, a mummy, an alien and Fiona from Shrek.