Kylie Jenner Wore a Piece of '90s Fashion History to the Golden Globes

Last night Kylie Jenner attended the Golden Globes with rumored bae and fellow PDA enthusiast Timothee Chalamet. It felt like nearly every commercial break cut to the two of them canoodling, so naturally the forensic lip readers of the internet joined forces to decide what the two could be talking about. Some joked their conversation was about Marxism and late capitalism, others insisted they were just sharing notes on being incredibly hot. But I’d like to posit another theory: Maybe Timothee—who has worn his own fair share of sequined harnesses and backless Haider Ackermann on the red carpet—wanted to know more about the 1998 Hanae Mori haute couture gown Kylie was wearing.

It just feels like the most likely option.

These days, Kylie often wears archival fashion on the red carpet instead of something straight off the runway. (If it is fresh from fashion week, it better come attached with a faux lion head brushing against her contoured cheeks). For the 81st annual Golden Globes, she worked with Lauren Lepire of Timeless Vixen in Beverly Hills, who has been dealing rare vintage for over two decades.

Over email, Lauren told me a bit more about the look. “It’s a museum-worthy Hanae Mori haute couture, fully beaded, sheer lace bias-cut gown dating back to her 1998 fall/winter collection. Hanae is the only woman of Japanese descent to have presented on the Paris and New York Runways, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official haute couture house,” she wrote. “Her 1960s and 1970s dresses, especially the caftans with printed silk chiffon, are highly sought after. She continued to evolve with her designs over the years, as you can see with this 1998 couture gown, which truly put her in a different league.”

Kylie's stylists, Alexandra and Mackenzie Grandquist, originally reached out to Lauren asking for a red 1993 Gianni Versace couture gown for the Golden Globes fitting. They also sent along some dress images they felt fit the look Kylie was going for. This Hanae Mori dress instantly came to Lauren's mind: “I knew it would check all of the boxes.”

When I asked her about the process of pulling from her vast vintage archive, she compared it to “Cinderella and the glass slipper.” Her clients and their stylists provide her with a mood or vibe, and she does the rest.

This particular hand-beaded Hanae Mori had been with her for over 10 years. “It’s sexy without being too risqué, extremely elegant, and a true wearable work of art,” she said. “It was just perfect for an award show.”

Lauren is thrilled that the red carpet—which can often serve as a space for brand ambassadors to fulfill their fashion house obligations—is seeing an uptick in vintage looks. And she poses an important question: “Why make more when we have so much beauty to share from the past? Especially in this period of new awareness of the environmental impact that fashion can have, wearing vintage for a social event is an important statement. Vintage is the future.”

Wrapped in a black lace web of vampy elegance, with fabric fanning from her waist like a pageant sash, Kylie looked like a future we can get behind. Hopefully her witchy look cast a spell on this season's nominees, inspiring more of them to opt for fashion history instead of something more obvious. Knowing Timothee, he's probably taking notes.

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