Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story Every year, Heidi Klum—the undisputed queen of Halloween —keeps spooky season fans guessing as to her next big costume reveal. In past years, she’s transformed into E.T., a peacock , a worm , and even Fiona from Shrek . So for her big New York City bash tonight, Klum yet again pulled off the art of the unexpected, this time transforming herself into … a giant replica of her own hand. “I always love to do something unexpected,” Klum told Vogue , a few hours before she started this evening’s lengthy getting-ready process. “Every year, I want to surprise people and do something that they haven't seen me—or anyone—do before. Halloween is my favorite time of year because I get to completely transform myself and become something totally different.”
So, where did Klum’s idea for the lifelike (and life-sized) appendage begin? For this Halloween, the German supermodel says she wanted to take something completely normal—and turn it into something that was anything but . “Some of the most interesting ideas come from the most ordinary things,” says Klum. “I love the idea of taking something so common, and that we see every single day, something we probably never even think twice about, and turning it into something larger than life. I thought it would be funny and bizarre to take something so familiar and twist it.”
John Nacion/Getty Images The star began ideating on the concept about a year ago—even before her 2025 Halloween bash, when she dressed up as Medusa . “Sometimes an idea comes to me very early, and other times I'm still figuring things out closer to Halloween,” says Klum. “I remember trying to explain it to my costume designer, Mike Marino, and he basically told me that he needed to focus on Medusa first! But it stayed in the back of my mind, and I knew I wanted to bring it to life this year.”
As usual, Klum worked her go-to team of special effects artists to bring her delightfully-kooky vision to life. Mike Marino , her right-hand man, led the work with his ProRenFX team. They began by taking a look at Klum’s very own hand for design inspiration. “[Mike] has all of these scans of my body, so he was able to use those to create an exact replica of my hand,” says Klum. “We wanted everything to be as realistic as possible—the anatomy, the veins, the muscles, all the little details that make a hand look like a real hand.”
There were some logistical issues to figure out—like how Klum could actually move and walk around like a hand, for starters. “There is so much planning, sculpting, molding and engineering that goes into these costumes,” says Klum. “The hand had to be large enough to make the impact I wanted, but also constructed in a way that I could actually wear it and move around.”
There were also some special touches added throughout the process—to make it feel undeniably Heidi Klum. “We even recreated my engagement ring and wedding band, as well as the little tattoo on my finger,” says Klum. “Nothing was overlooked! I love that Mike pays attention to things that most people might not even notice at first. The details make these costumes so special. It’s not just any giant hand: It’s my giant hand!”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 31: Heidi Klum (C) attends Heidi Klum's 25th Annual Halloween Party presented by Apothic and Butterfinger at Cathédrale on October 31, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum) Noam Galai/Getty Images Klum de…