Although it is unknown how long she has owned it, Kris Jenner—a Scorpio, just like Grace Kelly—may have purchased it at the historic auction of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection that Christie’s organized in 2011. According to the auction house’s records, the garment sold for $60,000 at the time—a figure significantly higher than the starting price (experts had estimated it at $2,000–$3,000) a price that was perhaps influenced not only by the legend of Elizabeth Taylor but also by the workshop legend surrounding it.
According to Christie’s, in the late 1960s, the Tiziani fashion house counted among its ranks a young and still relatively unknown Karl Lagerfeld, and while the attribution of this particular garment to the designer has never been confirmed, the mere possibility might have been enough to increase its value and spark the interest of the Kardashian matriarch, who is admittedly “obsessed” with the House of Chanel.
Jenner’s fascination with this type of historical piece is shared by at least one of her children. At the 2022 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian—who Saturday night opted for a vintage leopard-print Yves Saint Laurent design—appeared in the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to president John F. Kennedy in 1962, which she borrowed for the occasion from the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum.
Likewise, in her debut as a Balenciaga model, Kardashian walked the runway adorned with diamond jewelry owned Lorraine Schwartz that had belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. And just last weekend, during the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala, Kardashian once again paid tribute to Taylor by wearing a 1951 Balenciaga archive design that evoked Taylor’s silhouette and unmistakable style.
Originally published by Vanity Fair Spain
