The Fashion Statement: Cannes Style

by Kristin Young (RSS feed)
May 13th 2010 at 9:00AM

Le Festival de Cannes got underway yesterday bringing Hollywood to the French Riviera. Among the highlights expected this week? The debut of Sir Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and Oliver Stone's Wall Street sequel.

But it's not the films that interest us. It's the fashion shows.

First up, the Robin Hood premiere: Kate Beckinsale and Eva Longoria (pictured above), in particular, did not disappoint the fashion gods. Both showed up in frilly frothy gowns with dramatic trains of tiered chiffon worthy of the crimson carpet. Beckinsale chose Marchesa. Longoria was in Emilio Pucci. (Pucci, by the way, has created a limited edition caftan to be sold in their Cannes boutique to celebrate the festival.)

Cate Blanchett attended a press conference in an elegant in a Giorgio Armani Privé daytime dress and later made an entrance (and headlines) in a black, off-the-shoulder gown designed by the late designer Alexander McQueen. The dress is emblazoned, front and back, with a silver eagle taking flight and was part of the last collection designed by McQueen before the designer killed himself in February.

Meanwhile, Salma Hayek debuted the first ever haute couture collection from Gucci Premiere in the form of a deep red Bordeaux silk one-shoulder draped gown. Yes, surprisingly, the Italian house has never in its history produced an haute couture collection.

Gallery: The Fashion Statement: Cannes Style

Hellen Mirren chose a long-sleeve floor-length black Elie Saab gown over which she wore two stunning diamond cuffs, one on each wrist. Aishwarya Rai also wore Saab while Nathalie Imbruglia wore Alberta Ferretti.

Of course, there was a delicious fashion faux pas, or two-something that, sadly to me anyway, stylists did away with long ago for American actresses. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone got skewered in fashion blogs for wearing renaissance fair-like peasant dress by Rohit Bal. The jury is still out on Isreali socialite Hofit Golan and her red striped gown that brings to a candy cane. She gets points for wearing Sergio Rossi footwear.

Earlier this week in St. Tropez, there was more fashion news. Diane Kruger and Vanessa Paradis attended Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel cruise collection as well as the debut of his movie Remember Now, a 17-minute film about socialite summers in St. Tropez.

Around since 1946, the prestigious festival is still a spectacle. Some 10,000 members of the film industry, 4,000 press and thousands of celebrity watchers are there...along with Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Chanel, bien sur.

Tags: Cannes film festival 2010, Cate Blanchett, Chanel, eva longoria, karl lagerfeld, Kate Beckinsale