Since its founding in 1946, Cannes has been as much about fashion as films with stars and fashion houses treating the Croisette as an unofficial couture week.
From Brigitte Bardot’s barefoot strolls in the 1950s to Princess Diana’s ice-blue chiffon Catherine Walker gown in 1987, the festival has acted as a mirror of its time and provided plenty of fodder for vintage fashion lovers. Naturally, it’s evolved over the years from sun-drenched elegance to high-octane spectacle — so much so that this year, the film festival has updated its red-carpet dress code including an official ban on naked dressing, despite the festival’s legacy of risqué red carpet moments.
Fear not though, the drama and decadence continue albeit sans free-the-nipple fashion looks. Bella Hadid had a Holly Golightly moment—very demure, very mindful and very unlike last year’s whisper-of-chiffon Saint Laurent dress—Fashion’s Digest UK cover girl Zoe Saldana styled an oversized leather bomber with a simple black slip, and Tramell Tillman ditched the lanyard and white shirt in favour of deftly tailored single button double-breasted suit.
The films may premiere inside the Palais—but it’s on the steps outside that fashion history is written. Read on for our live coverage of the best red carpet looks.