Naomi Watts revealed that she receives “unsolicited” fashion advice from her daughter Kai in a new interview on February 23.The All’s Fair actress explained how the teen’s harsh commentary on her 2018 Met Gala gown led to an awkward situation with designer Michael Kors.Watts shared that she later took Kai’s fashion advice for another red carpet appearance that same year.
It’s an unofficial nepo baby rite of passage to raid your parents’ closets for iconic vintage looks and one-of-a-kind pieces, but according to Naomi Watts, she’s the one who’s taking fashion notes from her daughter Kai. The 17-year-old is already a rising runway star, and according to her mom, Kai isn’t afraid to serve up “unsolicited” fashion critiques—including some harsh commentary about one of Watts’s most memorable Met Gala gowns.
During a February 23 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the “Since U Been Gone” singer turned the conversation to Kai’s modeling success. “Fashion is a big topic in the household, especially now, and I take serious notes from her,” Watts shared before cheekily adding, “Solicited or unsolicited.”
As the All’s Fair actress and Clarkson began swapping stories about kids being their harshest fashion critics, Watts opened up about how Kai’s unfavorable opinion about her Met Gala gown in 2018 led to an awkward moment with designer Michael Kors, who’d designed the gilded dress in keeping with the evening’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination” theme.
Naomi Watts attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.
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Watts, who last went to the Met Gala in 2024, revealed that she attended the 2018 event as Michael Kors’s guest and had two “really fancy designer, beautiful options” to choose from for the evening.
“I showed my daughter the pictures, and she was like, ‘Definitely that one, Mummy. Definitely, that’s the best one. I love it,’” Watts said of a black sequined sleeveless dress with a built-in sheer mesh cape that she ended up tabling for The Nightingale screening at the Venice Film Festival that summer. Instead, the Mulholland Drive alum wore a white column gown completely covered in gold embroidery and 9,000 crystals which featured a matching capelet and dramatic train.
Naomi Watts and Michael Kors attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.
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Watts recalled, “She just happened to FaceTime me on the way in the car with Mr. Michael Kors himself, and said, ‘You wore the wrong dress.’ For him to hear! And you know anyone with a creative bone in their body, they’re very sensitive people. We’re artists.” A visibly horrified Clarkson chimed in, “Like, both dresses were right. Did he say that?”
Watts said that she could see that Kai’s comments “might have meant something to him,” but it ended up working out in the end. “I wore the dress that Kai wanted me to wear another time, so I got to wear both dresses,” she shared—although she revealed that her daughter was still not completely happy with how she styled it.
Naomi Watts walks the red carpet ahead of the ‘The Nightingale’ screening during the 75th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on September 6, 2018 in Venice, Italy.
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“The only difference is, it came with the cape, and I took the cape off. I asked for it to be removed, ’cause it felt, like too much high drama, and then, you know, Kai was, like, you needed the cape,” Watts shared, laughing.