There’s a touching story behind Kaitlyn Dever’s 2025 Emmys look.
The “Last of Us” star arrived at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sept. 14 in a custom Michael Kors design, which included a special nod to her late mother.
Dever’s mom, Kathy, died in 2024 due to complications from breast cancer.
“This is my mom’s jacket,” she told “Entertainment Tonight” on the red carpet, explaining how a couple years ago her mom bought the vintage piece in hopes of wearing it on a special day.
“She was like, ‘When you get nominated for an Emmy, I want to wear this with you,’” Dever shared. “And unfortunately, she’s no longer with us tonight to wear it.”
“But I had to wear it in her honor,” she continued.
Dever was nominated for outstanding guest actress in a drama series for her role as Abby in the HBO series. The category was announced during the Creative Arts Emmys, held a weekend prior to the televised Emmy Awards.
The day after the Emmys, she shared photos from the carpet and when she got ready on her Instagram. In the caption, she thanked the designer for the bespoke look, calling the outfit “the most beautiful more special, custom, look I’ve ever ever had.”
“This is my mamas jacket 🙂 I’m so glad I got to have her with me last night and I’m so grateful for the team at Micheal Kors for putting all together,” she wrote, thanking her sister Jane “for styling.” “I’m so happy I got to honor my mama ….and of course a lil heartbreaker, which ALWAYS makes me think of her.”
Dever attended the Emmys to support her fellow cast members, including Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who were nominated that night.
“It’s just fun to be supporting ‘The Last of Us,’” she said, before touching on leading the next season of the show. “I’m processing it. It’s a big deal!”
Dever joined the hit show for its second season. Earlier this year, she shared how she had to film a devastating scene that involved the death of a major character just weeks after the death of her mom.
“To be as honest as possible, I will just say that my days leading up to this scene were horrible,” she told Entertainment Weekly in April. “I lost my mom two or three weeks before I actually shot this scene and my mom’s funeral was three days before I did my first day. So I was sort of in a fog. I was in a daze.”
Dever announced the death of her mom in February 2024, sharing a slideshow filled with photos of the two, and their family, over the years.
“My mama. My life. My everything. I don’t even have the words,” she wrote in part. “Nothing I’ll ever say will amount to the gifts you have given me in my life, the boundless joy you brought, the deep, endless, unconditional love you gave me and our family. Your love was everywhere.”