The Most Talked-About Looks at the Cannes Film Festival of All Time

Those looking to make a statement on the red carpet of the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival have a lot to live up to. Here, a look back at the ensembles that have turned the most heads.

Legging-shoe hybrids are par for the course these days (thanks in no small part to Balenciaga’s Demna), but entirely out of the ordinary when Redgrave attended the 1967 premiere of her film Blow-Up.

The late royal worked with her go-to designer, Catherine Walker, on a gown that would have her channeling Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief.

When it comes to surprises, though, Madonna took the cake in 1991. She wore a silk cape to the premiere of Madonna: Truth or Dare, but upon reaching the top of the stairs, dropped it to reveal a Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra.

According to red carpet lore, the star of The Fifth Element had to be sewn back into her beaded loincloth in the midst of her red carpet appearance.

Casta (seen here with fellow red carpet risk-taker Milla Jovovich) was miles ahead of the “naked dress” trend.

It’s thanks to pioneers like Diaz that these days, it isn’t that big of a deal to go sheer.

Somehow, the public has yet to learn the name of the attendee who unforgettably turned up in a Larisa Katz dress made of biscuit trays.

In case you couldn’t tell, the Academy Award winner was pregnant with twins when she attended the 2008 festival with her then-husband, Brad Pitt.

The super’s chainmail Roberto Cavalli dress has long been considered one of the best looks to hit the festival’s carpet.

The model’s cherry-red Alexandre Vauthier was held together with just a few inches of silk. Years later, she admitted to feeling embarrassed that she wore a look so “va-va-voom.”

Has anyone ever looked as cool in Cannes as Rih did in Dior?

K-Stew established her hatred of high heels when she infamously—or iconically, depending on who you ask—complied with and then broke the festival’s dress code by removing her Louboutins and exiting the carpet barefoot.

The model embodied the #freethenipple hashtag when she turned up to the premiere of Girls of the Sun in sheer Schiaparelli couture.

Stone took up some major red carpet real estate last year when she turned up in a giant Dolce & Gabbana dress with enough flowers to fill a small garden.

The model stole the show in 2021 when she hit the red carpet in Schiaparelli fall 2021 couture, just barely covering up her nipples with a gold necklace reminiscent of a lung.