Heidi Klum made headlines with her dramatic Medusa costume at her New York City Halloween party, where she stunned guests with a hand-painted bodysuit and a serpent headpiece. The 2025 event, held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, featured a star-studded lineup with her husband Tom Kaulitz joining her as the doomed Greek soldier. Klum’s costume, created by a 15-person team, was inspired by her view of generative AI and aimed to be a striking commentary on modern art in a digital age.
As the self-proclaimed ‘Queen of Halloween,’ Klum’s transformation into Medusa was a bold statement, capturing the essence of the mythological creature with meticulous detail. The costume, which included intricate hand-painted scales and a massive headpiece of writhing snakes, made Klum a literal stone-cold stunner at the event. Her husband, Tom Kaulitz, fully committed to the theme by dressing as the unlucky Greek soldier turned to stone, creating a chillingly cinematic entrance on the blue carpet.
Klum shared her inspiration for the costume in a recent interview, stating that she sought to make a statement about the increasing dominance of generative AI in the creative landscape. ‘There still need to be people that create moments with real people… to me, it’s like a beautiful art,’ she said. She also humorously noted that her costume was only good for the night, joking that ‘everything goes down the drain — literally — in the shower.’
The effort required to bring the Medusa costume to life was immense, with a team of 15 artists collaborating to hand-paint every scale and sculpt each sinuous detail. Klum, known for her elaborate and often boundary-pushing Halloween costumes, has previously transformed into characters like Jessica Rabbit, E.T., and even six versions of herself in past years. Her 2024 costume as E.T. was particularly notable, featuring a black hat, blonde wig, and red shawl, while her husband donned a more traditional E.T. getup.