Yesterday, the festival updated its dress code to read, “For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival. Voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train, that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theater are not permitted.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, a representative for the festival claimed that the rules had been updated to reflect “certain rules that have long been in effect,” arguing that they wanted “not to regulate attire per se but to prohibit full nudity on the carpet.” And believe me, Cannes can be strict in enforcing the dress code, as they made women wear heels for many years.
And a reasonable person might think, “Surely, the no nudity, puffy dress, or trains rules were communicated well before the festival itself and are only making the news now?” Nope!
According to Variety, the actor and competition juror at this year’s festival said of her opening gala look, “I had an amazing dress by Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train.”
“I’m not going to break the rules. The nudity part is also probably a good rule,” she continued.
Halle is, of course, referring to the work of designer Gaurav Gupta — who previously dressed Cardi B for the Grammys and Mindy Kaling at the Met Gala. It’s not clear which of his dresses she was slated to wear, but his work certainly tends to be on the voluminous side.
Instead, Halle wore a dress by Jacquemus to the opening gala, which kicked off the festival earlier today:
Interestingly, the “berlingot” dress she wore from their La Croisière collection did originally feature a long train in promotional material.
Anyway, in looking up French nudity laws for this piece, I found out the law banning male shirtlessness was only abolished in 1994. Mon dieu!
