Still thinking about the outcome of The Undoing? You are not alone. Is Grace Fraser’s fabulous collection of house robes still playing on your mind? Us too. Nicole Kidman’s enigmatic performance in Sky’s blockbuster series was far from the only talking point from the show: her character’s arsenal of colourful—often controversial—outerwear generated even more discussion online than the whodunnit at the heart of the plot. But viewers were united on Kidman’s glacial beauty as Grace, amplified by her delicate gold jewellery, designed by Copenhagen native Rebecca Elbek.
“It’s the role you think Nicole Kidman would play,” Elbek tells British Vogue. “I’m a huge fan, I think she’s amazing.” The Dane supplied Kidman with a timeless collection of jewels to wear as the upper crust heiress with a bohemian bent, including an owl ring, a simple Nomad band, a pair of dangly Secret Woman earrings and a ring embellished with a shimmering scarab. As Grace, Kidman wore all of the rings at once, stacked on her fingers, a style that has become an Elbek signature. “It gives her character,” she muses.
Each piece was hand-picked by costume designer Signe Sejlund, who was introduced to Rebecca by a friend. The interaction was relatively straightforward: Sejlund described Grace Fraser’s Upper East Side persona, then Elbek showed her some jewellery designs. After months of waiting, the women had the seal of approval from both the show’s director Susanne Bier and Nicole herself, who tried the jewels during a fitting in New York.
According to Elbek, Kidman had been sad to part with her fistful of stacking rings when filming wrapped. But unbeknownst to the actor, her husband, country singer Keith Urban, had emailed Elbek to ask if he could buy the Fine Scarab ring Grace wore on her index finger for his wife to keep. Shortly afterwards, the designer says, another message arrived in her inbox, this time from Kidman’s assistant. “She wanted to get something special for him too,” says Elbek, adding that both Nicole and Keith were unaware of what the other was planning. So while Kidman had a less than ideal husband in Hugh Grant’s character in The Undoing, her real one is a die-hard romantic.
