Dressed To Kill? Cannes Says No More

The Cannes festival team seems to have ruffled quite a few feathers with the latest set of rules it has released on its website regarding the “appropriate” dressing for the Grand Théâtre Lumière gala screenings. Among the very specific instructions handed out to invitees is the much talked-about prohibition of nudity on the Red Carpet and other areas, “due to decency reasons”. Apart from this, “voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train” are also no go at the festival this time. The mandate has forced competition jury member Halle Berry to forego 온라인카지노 couturier Gaurav Gupta’s dress, which she claimed had “too big of a train”, due to which it didn’t fit the bill. But why have these rules sent the netizens in such a flurry?

Reportedly, this decision to ban nudity on the Cannes red carpet comes in the wake of Australian model Bianca Censori’s “naked dressing” on the Grammys red carpet in February this year. Censori, who is American rapper Kanye West’s wife, wore a barely translucent sheer dress on the occasion and made a big reveal before the media on the red carpet. Some netizens suggest that such “reveals” take away the press focus from the larger event and reduce the spotlight to the provocateurs. However, the rule seems puzzling on the Cannes red carpet, which is known almost as much for its fashion statements as its films, if not more. Last year, American model Bella Hadid made headlines with her brown Saint Laurent midi dress, which was also sheer and highlighted her body. This year too, her dressing turned quite a few head with its cowl neckline, waist-long and high-leg slits and asymmetric backless gown. Many reports suggest that this was Hadid’s way of bypassing the rules.

However, this is not the only restriction that has been put into place. The over-long trains which many celebrities have sported in the past are also to be avoided as, according to the Cannes website, they “hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theatre”. Several internet users took to their social media to express their dissatisfaction with these rules, stating that these are the only spaces where women can comfortably flaunt such flamboyant attires. As expected, several prominent figures like American and German model Heidi Klum, Chinese actress Wan QuianHui, Dubai Bling star Farhana Bodi and American actress Hayley Atwell chose not to toe the line and rebelled against the guidelines in their larger-than-life dresses and flowing trains.

Though Agnès Leroy, the head of press for Cannes, has stated that banning nudity is “not to regulate attire per se, but to prohibit full nudity—meaning the absence of clothing—on the red carpet, in accordance with the institutional framework of the event and French law”, many are seeing the dress code as a form of attire policing for the festival. If the aim was to shift the press focus from celebrity dresses to the films being screened at Cannes, the rules have definitely misfired as they are now the centre of attention for a lot of prominent media houses.