Six red carpet looks that turned heads at this year’s Cannes Film Festival
For some the thigh was the limit, for others the butch look was back, and the barely-there lace trend continues; some couldn’t resist making a big impression in numbers that needed a team of assistants to help them up stairs
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After 12 days of red-carpet glamour, political fashion statements and wardrobe malfunctions, these are the looks that turned heads at the Cannes film festival.
Gowns slashed almost to the hip were omnipresent at this year’s Cannes, with Susan Sarandon – at 70, the same age as the festival – giving a masterclass in the genre when she turned up on opening night in a green velvet number that also made the most of her ample cleavage. But the dangers of the thigh split were also on display, with US supermodel Bella Hadid repeatedly flashing her underwear due to the daring cut of her dress by Alexandre Vauthier.
Big nights call for big dresses, and there was many a full skirt on the red carpet, from R&B superstar Rihanna’s vast white Dior number to Nicole Kidman’s giant puffball skirt for The Killing of a Sacred Deer. But Bollywood queen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stole the show in a pale blue ballroom gown so big it took a team of five assistants to help her up the stairs.
Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev set the internet alight with her choice of frock for the opening gala, emblazoned with the Jerusalem skyline, which she said was intended to mark 50 years since the city’s “liberation and reunification” – a view its Palestinian residents would dispute.
Web users delighted in PhotoShopping the image, with one redesigning it to feature the separation wall dividing Israel and the West Bank.
Harder-edged looks made a comeback amongst all the frills this year, with Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss and Uma Thurman both opting for leather jackets over their evening dresses.
Kristen Stewart also premiered a butch new haircut, bleached and buzzed close to the scalp.
One new hairdo wasn’t enough for Mexican actress Salma Hayek. She turned chameleon this week, showing off no less than three radically different styles in the space of not much more than 24 hours, starting with pink-tinted curls one evening, a black bob the morning after and straight brown locks just hours after that.
That she ostensibly managed to grow out her fringe in the space of just a few hours was particularly impressive.
Less is more, apparently. This Cannes was marked by red carpet guests leaving the very minimum to the imagination. From the front, Portuguese model Sara Sampaio’s lace dress for a premiere this week was a rather demure affair, but the back proudly displayed a thong for all to see.
US model and Instagram queen Emily Ratajkowski also opted for lace, with a jumpsuit by Norwegian designer Peter Dundas that relied on thicker parts of the fabric to cover her modesty.
