Feathers and fringe, sculptural gowns and whisper-light slip dresses. Every spring, the journey is the same: Nice airport, Hôtel Martinez, the Croisette. Yet when the Cannes Film Festival unfolds, this familiar stretch of the French Riviera transforms into fashion’s most glamorous stage, where cinema and couture meet under the flash of photographers’ cameras.

The 2026 edition arrived with a renewed emphasis on restraint. A reinforced dress code discouraged excessive volume, oversized trains and overt displays of nudity, favouring a more controlled vision of red- carpet dressing. But if the rules sought to streamline silhouettes, they did little to diminish the fantasy. Instead, celebrities responded with a masterclass in modern glamour, embracing transparency, bold colour, impeccable tailoring and minimalist elegance while preserving the sense of spectacle that has long defined Cannes.

Credit Photo Mateusz Pielesz

Sheer Transparencies

If rules have contained excess, transparency has evolved into one of the most sophisticated codes of the festival. No longer provocation, but construction and optical illusion.

Bella Hadid embodies this approach in a Schiaparelli couture gown that transforms sheer dressing into sculptural language. Built on a nude base and intricate lacework, the dress plays with trompe-l’œil effects, creating the impression of a second skin shaped with architectural precision.

A clear reference point can be traced back to Jane Birkin’s liberated approach to dressing in the late 1960s and 1970s. Her crochet and sheer silhouettes continue to echo in contemporary couture, reinforcing transparency as a cyclical return to a freer vision of the body.

Riley Keough opts for a sheer Chanel Haute Couture suit, while Daisy Edgar-Jones chooses a milky Balenciaga gown. Jury member Demi Moore embraces impalpable draping that traces the silhouette without overwhelming it.

Credit Photo Mateusz Pielesz

Red

Alongside black, red emerges as one of the defining chromatic statements of the edition. Cinematic and absolute, it becomes a language of presence.

Isabelle Huppert, in Gucci, delivers sculptural precision, transforming red into architectural discipline. Tilda Swinton reinterprets it through an anti-diva Chanel silhouette, where concept replaces convention. Simone Ashley and other appearances across the Croisette confirm its versatility between vintage echoes and modern sensuality.

Credit Photo Gigi Iorio

Tailoring

The tailored suit establishes itself as a structured counterpoint to evening gowns. Malgosia Bela chooses shimmering Tom Ford, Anja Rubik confirms Saint Laurent precision, while Ruth Negga wears a custom Ami Paris tuxedo. Odessa A’zion brings a relaxed Dior interpretation with oversized proportions and an undone shirt.

Tailoring becomes an appropriation of masculine codes reimagined through a fluid, contemporary lens — a language of clarity, confidence and modern elegance.

Slip Dresses

At the opposite end lies the slip dress, where subtraction becomes luxury. Irina Shayk wears fluid silk by The Row, while Victoria Luengo chooses a Fendi version defined by soft sensuality and restraint.

From Naomi Campbell to Lily-Rose Depp, this aesthetic defines a new red-carpet luxury: intimate, essential and elevated by material purity rather than ornament.

Credit Photo Mateusz Pielesz

Necessary Glamour

Yet Cannes remains, above all, a place of fantasy and spectacle. Beyond restraint and minimalism, there is always room for romantic excess — shimmering gowns, dreamlike silhouettes and a touch of old-Hollywood glamour that never fully disappears.

Among the standout presences of this edition, jury member Demi Moore moved effortlessly between aesthetic registers, from emerald green tones to softer, classic palettes defined by elegance and refinement. Her presence reflected how timeless codes of beauty continue to coexist with contemporary trends, sustaining a subtle cinematic allure.

Ultimately, Cannes remains a world of imagination and emotion — a place where fashion becomes performance, and where even the most modern looks still carry a hint of theatrical romance for those who love the magic of it all.

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Edit by @Aldy Gdowska Przylipiak de Capadoci

Editor @Monaco Woman