A grotesque worm. Jessica Rabbit. Clones of herself. These are just a few of the things that Heidi Klum—the undisputed Queen of Halloween—has dressed up as in honor of the spooky holiday. Every year, the German model tries to best herself with a memorable costume for her star-studded party in New York—each ensemble more wild and wacky than the next. “I love Halloween because I love the artistry of transformation,” Klum tells Vogue. “For the first 11 years, I did my makeup, and then I met people who are experts in working with prosthetics to bring my ideas to another level. I love surprising people with great ideas and execution.” She certainly impressed last night when she emerged as a bright-blue peacock, with Cirque du Soleil members surrounding her dressed as her plumage.
After last Halloween’s viral worm costume—a moment that, frankly, will always be hard to top—Klum wanted to deliver a costume that was entirely new and different. “I have glued prosthetics on every inch of my body in the past. Because I have done this so many times, I wanted to surprise with a new idea, so I came up with a multilayer costume made out of many people,” says Klum. She went through many options. “Many animals, characters, and objects went through my head until I fell in love with the peacock,” she says. “A peacock is so colorful and surprising. I love that when a peacock opens its train, you can see all of the amazing feathers and different iridescent colors.”
To make her bird fantasy come to life, Klum worked with several different professional artists to pull off the six-hour transformation (yes, it took six hours!). The glam began with Klum’s face makeup and prosthetics, which was masterfully applied by the makeup artist Bill Corso. “I asked [him] to design the most realistic peacock head, and we spent many hours applying it on me,” says Klum. For her velvety blue bodysuit, she worked with the Cirque du Soleil design team, who helped pick the fabric and then made it all in-house. She wanted Cirque du Soleil performers to quite literally be her feathers. “In order to make this an art performance, I thought I would team up with one of the most known artists in the world, and that is Cirque du Soleil,” says Klum. “I had numerous FaceTime conferences as well as in person meeting in Montreal at their headquarters to finalize mine, as well as all of the artist positions.”
After teasing the look on her Instagram page yesterday, Klum debuted the costume at her Halloween party last night, in front of guests like Camila Cabello, Becky G, H.E.R., and Reneé Rapp. On the red carpet, Klum struck dramatic poses while 10 emerald-clad Cirque du Soleil members contorted themselves to act as her feathers around her. “Halloween night was so much fun,” says Klum. “I loved seeing all my friends, being back at the Marquee, where we celebrated 10 years ago. Questlove made us dance the night away, followed by my friends, [the musical duo] Sofi Tukker.”
The night was a family affair, too: Klum’s husband, Tom Kaulitz, showed up to the party as her ostrich egg, while Klum’s brother-in-law Bill Kaulitz came dressed as a unicorn, and her daughter Leni attended as Strawberry Shortcake. “To top it all off, my husband helped me write the music for [my red carpet] performance,” says Klum.
Ever wonder what the day after Halloween looks like for Klum? The star says she will be in recovery mode. Dressing up is hard work, after all! “My feet still hurt from all the dancing,” says Klum. “[I’ll be] trying to sleep in and going to have a nice dinner with my eldest Leni while I am still in New York.”
Believe it or not, Klum is already getting to work on her costume for next year—though you’ll have to wait and see what that is. “I know you must think I am crazy, but I already know what I will be next year, and it’s going to be amazing,” she says. “I can’t wait for the next Halloween!”
