An unofficial fashion week, Cannes film festival has been turning the southern French city into one big photo opportunity this week.
Always considered the most fashionable of all the film festivals, the connection was confirmed this year: the relatively new film production division of the fashion house Saint Laurent will premiere three titles.
With mild weather and an unashamed zeal for pomp, it is an opportunity for many of the world’s most in-demand celebrities to walk the red carpet several times in a crescendo of operatic outfits. Because, while awards season red carpets and the Met Gala provide a mere night of glamour, Cannes provides a fortnight.
Thanks to interview duties and press calls, as well as throngs of paparazzi outside hotels and nearby Nice airport, the festival also offers celebrities the chance to show off their daywear: the sunglasses, casual Breton tops, jeans and trainers.
And while the Croissette might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of inspiration for your own wardrobe this summer, it has been home to many relatable fashion moments too, from Kristen Stewart ditching her heels and going barefoot in 2018 to Jennifer Lawrence in flip-flops last year.
With aspiration plus relatability, comes inspiration. As the fashion writer Vanessa Friedman once put it: “The opening ceremony is the equivalent of Pavlov’s bell: it sounds, and we start to dress.” It was, after all, at Cannes that Jane Birkin launched decades’ worth of basket-bags, now a summer perennial.
With week one well under way, here’s what has stood out sartorially so far, what might trickle down and what might stay on the riviera.