Kaia Gerber’s The Shards Premiere Look Is an Ode to ’90s Minimalism

Kaia Gerber is done with the 1980s. Now that Ryan Murphy’s retro, campy, neon-lit nine-episode project The Shards is officially out, the model is sticking to the stripped-back style codes of the subsequent decade.

At the FX series’s official launch party in Los Angeles on August 5, Gerber donned a two-piece set by Gucci that paid homage to understated simplicity. The all-black look comprised a viscose crêpe bralette and semi-sheer floor-length jersey skirt, which revealed black briefs underneath. It’s from the Generation Gucci collection, which found creative director Demna delving into the brand’s archival codes from past eras to form one aesthetic narrative. This particular look evokes the sleek 1990s minimalism of Gucci’s iconic Tom Ford era. The silhouette is refined and simple, while the oh-so-subtle details—like the skirt’s satin stretch waistband—add polish and structure.

The Shards, now streaming on Hulu, follows a group of Beverly Hills prep school socialites whose world takes a violent turn when a serial killer starts slaughtering their classmates. Set in 1981, the show finds Gerber playing Susan Reynolds, an Angeleno It girl who wears purple eyeshadow and a highly teased side part. “I genuinely think the hair is what transports you back to 1981,” Gerber recently told Interview Magazine. “The hair is big.” Understandably, her glam for the launch party was decidedly toned down, featuring a stark middle part with her hair in loose curls, finished by brown eyeshadow and a glossy nude lip.

As the child of a ’90s supermodel, the actor has been pledging her allegiance to nostalgia-soaked elegance in column silhouettes and slinky sheers throughout The Shards press tour. It’s only fitting that for one of her final red carpet looks, Gerber is once again showing that less is more.