Not to beat ourselves up at a lot, but you may remember in February, when everyone had only one thing on their mind: Nicole Kidman on the cover of VF28th Annual Hollywood Issue.
If you don’t remember the picture – and the Miu Miu mini she wore – take another look, this time straight from the To die for star’s own Instagram page, and witness the 386,000 associated likes it attracted.
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After many months of online chatter about the ensemble, Kidman is ready to look back at this moment. Talking to her old Australia director Baz Luhrmannwhom she calls ‘Bazzie’, for Vogue Australiashe revealed that she was “begging” to wear that outfit.
The subject came up when Luhrmann, whose Elvis just debuted at the Cannes film festival, said he recently spoke with designer Miuccia Pradaand described how much he loved the fact that Kidman was “in control of the process” in regards to her “iconography.”
Kidman was eager to share what had happened. “I showed up and they had another outfit for me and I was like, ‘No, no, I like this one! Can I wear that?’” she said, continuing that stylist. Katie Grand“Who’s just fabulous, sat on Zoom, and Katie said ‘You’re willing to wear that?!’ And I said, ‘Wear it?! I’m begging you to wear it!’”
Luhrmann reported that upon seeing the look, he exclaimed, “Ah, she always has it! She can always turn it on!”
Kidman did admit she guessed herself afterwards, saying, “I ran away when I shot” Vanity Fair thinking, ‘What was I thinking?! That was ridiculous! What were you doing, Nicole?!’ And then I went, ‘Uh, well!’”
The cover, photographed by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari indeed caused a stir. Some stores called it a “fashion fumble,” while others called it “the ultimate vibe shift.” Clenched pearls on social media led some to call the response ageist.
“I don’t see it as a personal achievement!” Kidman told Luhrmann as he gushed about how she stays in the driver’s seat of her image.
“I know you don’t know that, but I don’t think you see that you broke the myth either,” he replied. “And I mean that as someone who loves you, but you broke the myth for everyone, but especially for women in our industry, that in any way you should shy away from wearing that Miu Miu piece or the lead role on your own show, or just having an even more developed creative life than you had even when we started! And not enough people say that, although they probably recognize it.”
