Lily Aldridge Says Her Kids Built a Fort Out of Her 2023 Met Gala Dress Options During a Fitting (Exclusive)

When Lily Aldridge preps for the Met Gala each year, her two kids, Dixie, 11, and Winston, 5, are right by her side helping her.

Well, "helping" her.

"I was actually just going through pictures," Aldridge, 38, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "On year I wore the tulle around my face for Comme des Garcons. I have all these pictures of my daughter, jumping on the bed during the fitting with the tulle everywhere and throwing it everywhere. Those are amazing memories."

But perhaps one of the sweetest memories the Victoria's Secret model can recall from past Met Galas with her kids' help came last year when her two little ones actually used some of her dress options for playtime in their house while mom and dad — Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill — weren't looking.

"Last year, I wore Oscar de la Renta and they sent all these beautiful gowns to my house," Aldridge shares. "There was one dress, it had a huge skirt, so [my kids] went under it like it was a fort. ... and it stayed a fort for a few nights. They would go into the skirt and it was just sitting in my living room. I'd look in there and they'd be in there, like, 'Hey, mom.'"

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Aldridge told PEOPLE following the 2023 event that Dixie and Winston also enjoyed trying on their mom's dresses before the gala — before they turned them into a fort.

“We were getting ready for the Met Gala, and they sent all my dresses, and my kids were so excited,” Aldridge said at Renaissance Hotels’ Global Day of Discovery celebration in New York City, where she served as the event’s cultural curator. “These boxes came with all these huge gowns, and they were walking around the house and my daughter had all the dresses on.”

The model — who teased to PEOPLE that she started prepping for the 2024 Met Gala months ago — further shares that both her kids simply enjoy fashion, which makes her so happy to see.

"It's so fun to share that experience with my children — and my love of fashion — and seeing it through their eyes."