Kylie Jenner Wears Her Own Face on a Beaded Strapless Balmain Gown at Paris Fashion Week

Kylie Jenner wearing a beaded balmain gown in two side by side photos

(Image credit: Instagram/@kyliejenner)

published 27 September 2024

Kylie Jenner loves a self-referential look. Earlier this month, the beauty mogul sent us hurtling back in time after reprising her King Kylie-era teal hair and vampy "Lincoln Park After Dark" manicure in a selfie shared to Instagram. But the mother of two has completely outdone herself with her latest serve at Paris Fashion Week.

On Friday, Sept. 27, the bombshell poured herself into a custom Balmain strapless gown covered in a giant print of her own face running down one side. Crafted from what must be thousands of beads, the hip-hugging bustier dress showcases a closeup of Jenner wearing red lipstick with her brown eyes cast to the side and her cheekbones prominent against a black backdrop.

A photo of Kylie Jenner in a black strapless dress with her own face printed on it — Kylie Jenner references herself with a custom Balmain dress.

Strangely, Jenner did not attend the Balmain show during Paris Fashion Week. (She did, however, show up to Schiaparelli in oversize bangle bracelets.) But she did tag creative director Olivier Rousteing in a couple snaps of the stunning gown on Instagram.

“Me by @olivier_rousteing @balmain,” Jenner captioned one of the photos on her Instagram Story.

What I find particularly impressive about Rousteing's creation is the clever placement of the image, which wraps around the bodice to emphasize Jenner's curves. Rousteing, of course, has been a friend of the Kar-Jenner family for years. He even collaborated with Jenner on a Kylie Cosmetics x Balmain capsule collection in 2019.

A closeup of Kylie Jenner in a black strapless dress with a large picture of her own face printed on it — A closer look at Kylie's beaded Balmain gown.

It's especially odd that Jenner missed the Balmain Spring 2025 show given that her likeness also graced several pieces from the French fashion house's latest collection. One model hit the catwalk in a long-sleeved maxi dress version of Jenner's strapless custom gown. Two more stomped down the runway in a jacket and a sculpted mini dress featuring her lips and red-manicured fingertips.

“My enduring fascination with intricate embellishments is reflected in complex pearl patterns, pictures and portraits, with some of the impressive photo-realistic creations requiring hundreds of thousands of beads and weeks of expert embroidery," Rousteing wrote of the collection in a press release.

Balmain spring 2025 model — Kylie's dress on the Spring 2025 Balmain runway.

Balmain models for spring 2025 — Jenner's dress came from a collection full of creations emphasizing the female form.

Of course, nothing could have stopped Jenner from seeing her supermodel sister, Kendall Jenner, stomp the runway at Schiaparelli's Spring 2025 show the previous day. The 27-year-old poured herself into a waist-cinching gown featuring an oversize keyhole cut-out for the occasion, then accessorized the look with a pair of ridiculously hefty '80s-inspired cuff bracelets—no self-references to be seen.

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Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.

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