Culture & Style
Kim Kardashian Channels Elizabeth Taylor in over 250 Carats of Diamonds on Balenciaga Runway
By Jane Asher, June 9, 2025
Once again, Kim Kardashian emulates the style icon through fashion and natural diamond jewelry.
Courtesy of Balenciaga
Kim Kardashian touched down at Paris Fashion Week to walk for one of her favorite fashion houses, Balenciaga. The occasion marked creative director Demna’s final show for the brand after a decade at the helm—and he went out in true high-wattage style. For the grand finale, he tapped celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz to design 11 dazzling custom high jewelry looks for the runway.
Meet the Author
- Jane Asher is a social media manager with a passion for pop culture.
- She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Washington University in St. Louis.
- As a journalist, her work has been featured in publications such as InStyle Magazine, Stylecaster, Martha Stewart Weddings and more
Lorraine Schwartz Brings 1,000 Carats of High Jewelry to the Runway
Schwartz created the stunning high jewelry pieces using more than 1,000 carats of white diamonds, Colombian emeralds, Padparadsha sapphires, pink diamonds and canary yellow diamonds. Kardashian’s look, however, featured something truly extraordinary: a pair of priceless girandole earrings from Elizabeth Taylor’s personal collection. Beloved by Taylor, the dramatic drops were a red carpet staple during her Hollywood heyday. They were gifted to her in 1957 by her third husband, film producer Mike Todd—the same year he famously presented her with one of her most iconic engagement rings.
Kardashian Wears Elizabeth Taylor’s Legendary Mike Todd Earrings
Schwartz, who called Taylor a friend before she passed in 2011, purchased the Mike Todd earrings at Christie’s auction house in December 2011 for $374,500. According to a press release, Schwartz chose to add them to her own personal collection “in honor of her inspiring and meaningful friendship with Elizabeth.”
The girandole, or chandelier-style, earrings showcase three round-cut diamond drops suspended from an intricate openwork plaque adorned with round-cut diamonds arranged in delicate floral and bow motifs. The entire design hangs from a round-cut diamond flower stud, all exquisitely set in platinum.
The earrings were a favorite of Taylor’s, and she continued wearing them long after Mike Todd’s death in 1958, just a year after he gifted them to her. She wore them in the ads for her White Diamonds perfume, at the Golden Globes in 1957, and at the Academy Awards in 1992.
A Lifelong Obsession: Kim Kardashian’s Deep Admiration for Elizabeth Taylor
The full look was “an ode to Elizabeth Taylor,” according to Balenciaga, with Kim Kardashian walking the runway in a gown inspired by Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She paired it with the earrings and two custom-made natural diamond necklaces by Schwartz, weighing a total of 250 carats.
Kardashian is a self-proclaimed “huge Elizabeth Taylor nerd” and a bona fide superfan. The reality star conducted Taylor’s final interview for Harper’s Bazaar in 2011, shortly before the actress’s death, and later served as an executive producer for a three-part BBC documentary series about the Hollywood legend.
This isn’t the first time Elizabeth Taylor has influenced Kim Kardashian’s style. Over the years, she’s staged several at-home photoshoots recreating some of Taylor’s most iconic looks. At her family’s annual Christmas party in 2023, Kardashian wore a baby blue gown layered with diamond necklaces—including one featuring a pear-shaped pendant reminiscent of the legendary Taylor-Burton Diamond. The look was a striking nod to Taylor’s 1970 Oscars ensemble, where she paired a similar gown with the showstopping diamond.
In 2011, Kim Kardashian purchased three jade and diamond bangles by Lorraine Schwartz during the Elizabeth Taylor auction at Christie’s in New York. Although she’s a close friend of the designer and could have acquired the pieces directly, Kardashian chose to bid at auction—ultimately paying $64,900, far exceeding the $8,000 estimate—to own the exact bangles once worn by Taylor. “She loved those bangles for a long time,” Schwartz told Forbes at the time. “She bought them because they’re Elizabeth’s.”
