DOUBLE TROUBLE

Cate Blanchett Has Been Quietly Recycling Looks at the Venice Film Festival

From her hypebeast jumpsuit to the Esteban Cortázar gown she wore to promote Carol.


Cate Blanchett photographed by Tim Walker for W Magazine, December 2015.

It takes a brave soul to wear white pants when traveling—especially when the voyage involves both an international flight and a water taxi ride. And yet, that’s exactly how Cate Blanchett chose to arrive to the Venice Film Festival last week, remarkably stain-free. Her trousers remained in pristine enough condition that just a few days later, she repurposed them for the red carpet.

Both on and off the red carpet, the actor has stuck to recycling ever since. Whereas many have opted out of the festival altogether, Blanchett—who’s also this year’s jury president—has seized the opportunity to send a message, resurrecting some of her greatest, “most cherished” hits. “IT’S CHIC TO REPEAT!,” her stylist, Elizabeth Stewart, wrote on Instagram after Blanchett attended the opening ceremony in the same Esteban Cortázar gown she wore to a premiere of Carol in 2015. And it will continue to take on new life: Blanchett has donated the gown to an upcoming auction benefiting two charities, Facing History and Ourselves and UN Women.

L: Cate Blanchett is seen arriving at Venice Airport during the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 01, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Photo by Photopix/GC Images/Getty Images. R: Cate Blanchett walks the red carpet ahead of the movie “Khorshid” (Sun Children) at the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 06, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.

L: Cate Blanchett attends a screening of “Carol” during the BFI London Film Festival at Odeon Leicester Square on October 14, 2015 in London, England. Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty Images. R: Cate Blanchett walks the red carpet ahead of the Opening Ceremony and the “Lacci” red carpet during the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 02, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Photo by Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis via Getty Images.

The actor has also reprised some of her more casual looks. This weekend, she stuck to menswear, reprising the red Dries van Noten suit she wore to an event in Shanghai in 2018 and the drop-crotch, tie-dye Triple RRR jumpsuit that led to her hypebeast moment last year.

L: Cate Blanchett and her daughter, Edith and Andrew Upton are seen walking in SoHo on August 14, 2019 in New York City. Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images/Getty Images. R: Cate Blanchett is seen arriving at the Excelsior during the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 06, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Photo by Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images.

Blanchett has had some pieces altered in the years since. On the festival’s second day, she wore the same asymmetrical, intricately embroidered Alexander McQueen top as she did to the 2016 BAFTAs, swapping out the feathered skirt for a simple pair of black pants. She took a similarly simplified approach to the beaded Acne Studios blazer she wore on Sunday, which was last seen at the Rome Film Festival in 2018.

L: Cate Blanchett attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England. Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images. R: Cate Blanchett walks the red carpet ahead of the movie “Amants” at the 77th Venice Film Festival at on September 03, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Photo by Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images.

There is, however, one thing Blanchett has yet to recycle. While many have attempted to dress up their face masks, and she initially arrived in a chic bandanna, the actor has since casually stuck to disposables.

L: Cate Blanchett attends the photocall of the movie ‘The house with a clock in its wall’ during 13th Rome Film Fest, in auditorium Parco Della Musica on October 19, 2018 in Rome, Italy. Photo by Silvia Lore/NurPhoto via Getty Images. R: Cate Blanchett is seen arriving at the Excelsior during the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 07, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Photo by Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images.

Related: Cate Blanchett, In Her Own Words, On Guest Editing a Special Issue of W Magazine