Heidi Klum unveiled a giant, bloodied recreation of her own severed left hand at her 25th Halloween party, held at Cathédrale Restaurant inside the Moxy East Village hotel in New York on 31 October 2026. The reveal followed a series of unsettling costume previews shared on social media in the days before Halloween.
The 53-year-old model arrived inside an enormous hand-shaped structure with long red fingernails, visible veins, and dangling ligaments and tendons at the severed wrist. Her legs formed two fingers, while her arms helped shape additional fingers and her torso fitted inside the palm. Her face remained visible through an opening in the creation.
A Costume Modelled on Her Own Hand
Klum said she developed the idea after looking at her left hand and imagining how she could position her body inside an enlarged version. She began considering the concept the previous year, before the team worked out how to reproduce the hand's features on a much larger scale.
The finished piece reproduced the lines and veins of her hand, as well as a red manicure and replica jewellery. Assistants wearing blood-stained hazmat suits accompanied Klum at the party, adding to the severed-limb presentation.
Klum shared a close-up preview on 24 October 2026 and another teaser resembling prosthetic intestines on 27 October. Neither post revealed the complete design. The final costume was shown at the Halloween celebration on 31 October.
Six Hours to Get Ready
Klum said getting into the costume took about five to six hours. Her team spent four months constructing it after roughly a year of brainstorming. She described carrying the finished creation as its biggest practical challenge because of its weight.
The hand was designed around Klum's body rather than worn as a conventional outfit. Her legs and arms helped create the appearance of individual fingers, while the palm concealed much of her torso. This arrangement allowed her to move inside the oversized prop, although the costume's weight made it difficult to carry.
A Hidden Tribute to Tom Kaulitz
The design incorporated replicas of Klum's engagement ring and wedding band, along with a tattoo of her husband Tom Kaulitz's name on the replica's ring finger. The tattoo was a feature of the costume; there is no verified basis to say it is present on Klum's real hand or dated from their wedding.
Kaulitz, a musician, was away on tour and did not attend the party. Klum explained that including his name meant a little bit of him was still with her. The personal details were reproduced on the giant hand alongside its anatomical special effects.
25 Years of Halloween Parties
The event marked the 25th edition of Klum's Halloween party. She began hosting the celebrations in 2000, but no parties were held in 2020 or 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2026 event brought her Halloween tradition back to New York with another large-scale transformation.
Past costumes have included a giant worm in 2022 and a peacock in 2023, when performers arranged themselves to form the bird's extended feathers. In 2025, she appeared as Medusa, complete with green scales, a long tail and moving snakes.
For the 2026 design, the team focused on replicating the details of Klum's own hand rather than creating a fictional creature. Four months of construction produced a structure large enough to accommodate her body, with the severed wrist and oversized fingers providing the final effect.
Klum's advance posts showed only fragments of the materials and make-up involved, keeping the overall shape concealed until the event. Her completed costume featured replica rings, a red manicure, and the name of Kaulitz.
