The Cannes Film Festival, now in its 78th year, has officially drawn to a close. The event — which since 13 May has seen actors, directors, producers and influencers make their way up the carpeted steps — is a jewel in the calendar of both lofty cinephiles and polished fashionistas. Stars arrive not just to promote their latest feature film at the high temple of world cinema, but also to turn a look.
This year, the fashion stakes were upped before the festival even opened its doors — prompted by a change in the official dress code, announced just hours before kick-off. Nudity was explicitly banned (prohibiting the current celebrity favorite “naked” dress trend that has dominated the red carpet in recent years); as were “voluminous outfits” with large trains for the sake of traffic control.
Some stars, like Halle Berry, dutifully obeyed the restrictions. “I had an amazing dress by (Gaurav) Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train,” the actor said at a news conference. “I’m not going to break the rules.” Others brazenly persevered with their original wardrobe plans. Heidi Klum and Wan QianHui were the first rebels of the year, arriving in high-octane frocks with defiantly cascading trains.
