Halloween is nearly here, and that means the fashion world is waiting to see what Heidi Klum will become this year. The supermodel and television host has turned her annual New York party into one of the most anticipated costume reveals of the season, and her 2026 look is due to be unveiled on the night of 31 October. As Vanity Fair Italia reports, the clues so far point to her most ambitious transformation yet.
The clues so far
Back in September, Klum told People that she was already hard at work on the costume and that it would be “very, very bloody”, adding, with a wink, that it “goes very well with red wine”. On 24 October she raised the stakes on Instagram, asking her followers “What’s my costume?” alongside a close-up of prosthetic pieces. E! News and People describe the image as a colourful, coral-like cluster of shapes, some resembling a brain or intestines.
Fans have been busy guessing. Suggestions in the comments range from Ursula, the sea witch in The Little Mermaid, to the monster from the 2024 horror film The Substance, to the infected “clickers” of The Last of Us. Others think she may be heading under the sea altogether.
A tradition of going all out
Klum’s costumes are built with Mike Marino, the special effects artist behind Prosthetic Renaissance, who has worked on many of her most famous looks. According to Vanity Fair Italia, he has described this year’s costume as the most complicated he has ever made. Klum told Bustle that, in the first week, he even wondered whether it could be done at all, though she is confident the result will be “epic”.
It has a lot to live up to. For the 25th anniversary of her party in 2025, Klum arrived as Medusa, covered head to toe in green scales, with a long tail and moving snakes in place of hair, while her husband Tom Kaulitz came as a Greek soldier turned to stone. Earlier years brought a giant earthworm in 2022, a strikingly realistic E.T. and a chimpanzee complete with facial prosthetics.
If her red wine hint has put you in the mood for something darkly glamorous of your own this Halloween, deep reds are the obvious choice. Try ruby rings, garnet earrings or a garnet pendant, or pay tribute to last year’s Medusa with something from our emerald jewellery collection.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “Heidi Klum, sale l’attesa per il suo nuovo costume di Halloween” by Alfredo Toriello (27 October 2026); People, “Heidi Klum Asks Followers to Guess Her Halloween Costume” (October 2026); E! News, “Heidi Klum Teases Grotesque Halloween Costume Ahead of 2026 Party” (October 2026); Bustle, “Heidi Klum Teases Her ‘Gory’ 2026 Halloween Costume”. Featured image: AI-generated scene, not a photograph of Heidi Klum or her costume.
