Cannes Film Festival — a prestigious film festival in France known for extravagant and, at times, ostentatious red carpet looks — has a new dress code just in time for its 78th festival, which started this week.
The film festival has banned nudity and “voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train,” according to Cannes’ official website.
“This year, the Cannes Film Festival has made explicit in its charter certain rules that have long been in effect. The aim is not to regulate attire per se, but to prohibit full nudity on the red carpet, in accordance with the institutional framework of the event and French law,” festival organizers said in a statement, according to Variety.
The statement said Cannes “reserves the right to deny access to individuals whose attire could obstruct the movement of other guests or complicate seating arrangements in the screening rooms.”
Although festival leaders have sought to downplay the change, the new rules are notable at a festival known for risqué fashion. As The New York Times pointed out, the Cannes red carpet often attracts “naked dressing ... that mode of dress in which large swaths of the normally private body are aired for public viewing.”
While a nudity ban might feel like a no-brainer, a ban on “voluminous outfits” with “a large train” might pose more of a challenge to attendees.
Cannes said that such gowns can complicate seating and crowd management. But voluminous gowns are a staple at prestigious film festivals and award shows, or any event with a black-tie or formal dress code.
Cannes’ new dress code sparked a debate.
Hannah Holland wrote for MSNBC that the new dress code is “erasing artistic opportunity, particularly for women attendees.”
Cannes Film Festival has a famously strict black-tie dress code, with security officials who are “notoriously ... strict when it comes to dress codes,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
There have been a few instances where attendees were turned away from a screening, most infamously in 2015 when “multiple female attendees” were refused entry for “not wearing heels ahead of a screening of the Cate Blanchett starrer ‘Carol,’” The Hollywood Reporter said.
Will the new dress code be enforced?
With the Cannes Film Festival currently underway, the new dress code has already claimed its first victim: Halle Berry.
“I had an amazing dress by Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train,” Berry told Variety. “I’m not going to break the rules.”
“The nudity part is also probably a good rule,” she added.
However, Heidi Klum noticeably ignored the new dress code this year, wearing a gown on the red carpet that was voluminous and had a long train, according to People.
Although the film festival has reserved the right to deny access to those who break the new rules, it seems that Klum was able to attend the festival without disruption.