The current class of celebrity moms has curated the most impressive archives of red carpet looks for their children to source. Apple Martin, for one, lucked out with Gwyneth Paltrow as her mother. On December 16, the 21-year-old borrowed a vintage Calvin Klein dress for the Marty Supreme premiere, one her mom debuted 29 years ago.
Paltrow secured two plus-ones for the table-tennis film's New York City stop—a ticket for her son, Moses Martin, and the other for Apple. The trio arrived arm-in-arm, but ultimately, Apple stole the show. On paper, her black halter-neck number fit read like a simple, minimalist pul. Not a single sequin, feather, or rhinestone decorated its column silhouette. Instead, the dress's history made it shine.
Elizabeth Saltzman (the Paltrow family stylist) handpicked the archival Calvin Klein look for Apple. How she managed to narrow down her choices remains a mystery. "I started saving clothes for Apple about 15, 20 years before she was born," Paltrow told Vogue in September. So, the options were endless. Ultimately, a sleeveless, all-black slip made the cut, defined by its classic U-shaped neckline and lace-up open back.
Martin mirrored her mother's look from the July 1996 premiere of Emma like a blueprint, down to the dainty accessories. Her only diamonds? Stud earrings from Tiffany & Co., which caught the light with every other pose. Manolo Blahnik heels barely peeked out from beneath the gown's floor-grazing hem. Martin didn't pose for photographers with the original silver, kiss-lock clutch in tow, but knowing Paltrow, it's tucked away in her archive.
Before her pink Ralph Lauren ballgown at the 1999 Academy Awards, fans regarded Paltrow's Calvin Klein slip as one of her best red carpet moments. For the '96 Emma premiere, the Oscar winner juxtaposed the film's early 19th century costumes in the most anti-method of dresses. It proved Paltrow's synonymous turn to minimalism in the '90s was complete. Fans still know the actor for her classic colors, clean lines, and timeless beauty reclaimed, all of which empowered Martin to pull off the LBD almost 30 years later.
It was only a matter of time before Martin gave Paltrow's vintage a proper red carpet close-up. "My absolute favorite stuff is her old Calvin Klein from the ’90s," Martin told Interview in April 2025. "Going into her archive closet is just heaven on earth."
According to the mom-of-two, she's "saved everything" in the hopes that "I had a daughter one day who would want to go in there," she shared with Vogue. "She's absconded with many of the '90s Calvin Klein skirts, tube skirts, and all kinds of slip dresses."
Sometimes, when they're far from a red carpet, the two "play dress up" in Paltrow's Oscar dresses. In June 2023, during an Instagram Q&A, she shared a photo of Martin in that Alexander McQueen ballgown from the 2002 Academy Awards. The entire lace-up bodice appeared sheer, a motif she first tested at the '98 Shakespeare In Love premiere. (See her "naked" Giorgio Armani gown in all its embroidered glory.)
Martin, of course, pulled it off with ease inside Paltrow's closet, in the way she intended at the Oscars. "There were a few issues; I still love the dress itself but I should have worn a bra and I should have just had simple beachy hair and less makeup," she wrote on Goop's website in 2013. "Then, it would have worked as I wanted it to—a little bit of punk at the Oscars." Perhaps Martin could give it a try at the 2026 ceremony.
Paltrow and Martin are the mother-daughter duo to beat in terms of applause-worthy archival pulls. Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber, however, are close behind: Last year, Gerber attended the Toronto Film Festival in Crawford's exact Hervé Léger bandage dress from the 1993 Oscars. But walking the red carpet with your mom in her dress? That's a moment for the family mantel.
