Well past awards seasons and just days after the Met Gala, the Cannes Film Festival is the place to be to make a fashion statement. However, with its arrival on Tuesday, May 13, it looks like red carpet style will have to scale back this year due to the institution’s new dress codes.
Until May 24, stars attending premieres and other events sprinkled throughout the festival grounds will have to follow the organization’s notoriously strict outfit guidelines, which appear to have only gotten tighter.
As stated on the official FAQ website for the event, “nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival,” due to “decency reasons.” In addition to that, “voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train, that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theater are not permitted.”
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Irina Shayk at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023
Guests attending screenings from around 7 p.m to 10 p.m. at the Grand Théâtre Lumière — the carpeted steps of which are most known to display the most showstopping of looks — are “required” to wear eveningwear in the form of long dresses and tuxedos.
The website also includes alternative styles that men and women can choose to wear within the vague category. That includes “a little black dress, a cocktail dress, a dark-colored pantsuit, a dressy top with black pants; a black or navy blue suit with bow-tie or dark-colored tie.”
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Kate Beckinsale at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023
Additionally, footwear can be narrowed down to “elegant shoes and sandals with or without a heel,” but sneakers are not allowed.
As Cannes followers may know, what attendees wear for the bottom half of their look matters just as much as what they put on top, especially after when, in 2015, women attending the premiere of Carol were denied entry because of their flat shoes that went against the festival’s high-heel policy. Years later, in 2023, Jennifer Lawrence made headlines for flashing her flip-flops on the carpet (though she stated at the time that she changed out of heels for convenience, not to make a statement or defy protocol).
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“The Festival welcoming teams will be obligated to prohibit red carpet access to anyone not respecting these rules,” reads the website, with an added statement that “for all other screenings, proper attire is sufficient.”
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Jennifer Lawrence in flip-flops at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival
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With the event’s sartorial guidelines firmly set in place, it does keep an aura of mystery around what we can expect from the red carpet — and if anyone will be bold enough to break the rules. Because, while the event is all about the cinema, it too is centered on the dramatic fashion moments that rely on unexpectedly naked ensembles (from Milla Jovovich’s 1997 Jean Paul Gaultier’s see-through dress to Bella Hadid’s free-the-nipple statement in sheer Saint Laurent last year) and grand confections.
One question remains: How will stars and their stylists successfully find the sweet spot between doing too little and doing too much?
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