Heidi Klum Brings Back Early ’00s Trend In Thong And Butt-Baring Dress

Heidi Klum is never one to disappoint when it comes to her style. She’s always living on the edge, and rocking fun, unexpected and edgy looks. From breaking the internet with her worm Halloween costume, which was considered one of pop culture’s defining moments of 2022, to wearing a sheer dress to the Avatar 2 premiere, Klum is always on her A-game. Now, she’s proving once again that she loves making bold fashion statements and setting trends by creating an outfit with a thong and butt-baring dress that is very early ‘00s.

Klum rocked the dress to a party with Kim Petras, who just dropped her single “Alone” with Nicki Minaj. While it’s unclear what exactly the party was for, it seems like it could have been in celebration of the new song since Petras was seen multiple times in the America’s Got Talent judge’s Instagram story, sometimes on stage with a microphone. Klum took to Instagram to share moments from the evening, as well as her early '00s-inspired look, by posting this video:

The video shows Klum shaking it in a gold mini-dress that has an ultra-low back. Along with the cross-body straps on the back, she’s also wearing a black thong with gold embellishments to finish off the look. She paired the dress with knee-high black boots, beachy waves in her hair, and natural glam. Overall, she looked like she was ready to party in a very on-trend way. 

It became clear at the beginning of 2023 that this Y2K trend would be making a major comeback, per W magazine. They pointed to celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Dua Lipa rocking the low-back, thong-showing look to bring in the new year. On top of this specific trend, many other actresses have been hopping on fun trends adjacent to this one as Florence Pugh wore “a quick sparkly thong,” and Sydney Sweeney looked fab in her butt necklace. Now, Klum is adding to the trend, by sharing her take on the early ‘00s look. 

I’m not surprised at all that Klum decided to jump on this trend. She’s always been one to rock edgier looks, and she has never been afraid to show a little skin, for example, she went topless for Easter on Instagram. Also, as a former model, and host of fashion-forward shows like Project Runway and Making the Cut, she’s always in the know about what’s on trend, and she is frequently wearing up-in-coming or current trends, like the butt-baring thong and dress combo.

While Klum has been partying it up with Kim Petras lately, when it comes to what’s next, she’ll be returning to the 2023 TV schedule when America’s Got Talent – which will be available to those with a Peacock subscription – returns this summer. I highly doubt she’ll be rocking a low-back thong-baring dress to judge the popular talent show, but I guarantee she’ll have more fun and edgy looks picked out that are perfect for the reality competition. 

Riley Utley
Weekend Editor

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.