Glamorous looks at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival

Cannes film festival is our yearly mix of
Hollywood glamour mixed with the stately prestige
of the French Riviera, so the stars from far and
wide make for a good show on the red carpet.
Infamously, this year's Cannes fashion came with a
little #controversy, as women not wearing heels
were reportedly turned away from screenings.
This year's big winners were capped with director
Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust & Bone ) taking
home the Palme d'Or with his immigrant drama
Dheepan . Other notable winners include Rooney
Mara taking Best Actress for Todd Haynes' drama
Carol (in which she stars with Cate Blanchett ), Hou
Hsiao-hsien taking Best Director for his martial arts
epic The Assassin , and the Jury Prize going to the
drama The Lobster (starring Colin Farrell and Rachel
Weisz)
Cannes does not rely on a single evening
to make its style statement (though the amfAR
Cinema Against AIDS fund-raiser comes close).
And because of that reality, the celebrities whose
clothing choices are so carefully tracked do not
seem to be as locked in to their branded
relationships as usual.
In other words, they actually seem free to play with
clothes, and not just clothes they have some sort of
representational deal to wear. This was more
successful on some occasions than others, but it
was never less than interesting. And it was never an
unmitigated disaster
example, while Charlize Theron did, indeed,
wear a long yellow Dior column to the “Mad Max:
Fury Road” premiere (she is the face of the perfume
J’adore Dior) she also wore a short fringed leather
’n’ point d’esprit Valentino to the photo call.
While Cate Blanchett, the face of the Armani
fragrance Sì, wore a long, black, beaded Armani
gown to the “Sicario” premiere, she also wore a
mesmerizingly poufy, surreally printed Giles dress
to the “Carol” premiere, and an Alexander McQueen
see-through black top to a photo call.
While Diane Kruger, a Chanel ambassador, wore a
Chanel puffball to amfAR, she also wore a Dolce &
Gabbana minidress to a “Maryland” photo call and a
Prada gown-with-train to the premiere.
And while Natalie Portman, the face of the Miss Dior
perfume, wore two Diors (long, red; full-skirted,
strapless — both elegant), she also wore a draped
green Lanvin to “Sicario” and a short, asymmetrical
lace Rodarte to the photo call for her directorial
debut , “A Tale of Love and Darkness.”
Even Marion “Lady Dior” Cotillard mixed up her
bead-encrusted Dior minidress at “Macbeth” with
an apple green satin Jean Paul Gaultier at amfAR
and a striped Ulyana Sergeenko jumpsuit at a photo
call.
It wasn’t quite a return to ye olde risk-taking days
before Hollywood got sucked into the fashion
marketing maw, but it may be as close as we are
likely to get.
After all, there was nothing safe about the Valentino,
Giles, Rodarte and Gaultier looks. And whether you
liked them or not, at least they gave you something
to think about — a trend worth watching.
It was even more compelling than the cutouts and
cropped tops that otherwise proved the most
ubiquitous looks on the red carpet, from Rachel
Weisz’s Narciso Rodriguez jumpsuit and Louis
Vuitton gown (both worn to promote “The Lobster”)
to Kendall Jenner’s two-piece Alaïa. And, of course,
the myriad Versaces sliced here and diced there on
everyone from Jane Fonda (who looked great) to
Karlie Kloss and Natasha Poly. (Indeed, the models
who made an appearance seemed to have a thing
for Versace.) Though they involve a certain daring
all their own, as in, check out this section of my
waist you never thought you’d see!
And Lanvin to the premiere of "Sicario."