The 10 Best Cannes Dresses of All Time, Including One That Took 3000 Hours to Make
The 10 Best Cannes Dresses of All Time, Including One That Took 3000 Hours to Make
Katherine J IgoeFri, May 15, 2026 at 1:43 PM UTC
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Credit: Getty Images / InStyleThe Gist -
The Cannes Film Festival has a longstanding relationship with glamour, prestige, and fashion spectacle.
Some of the most iconic looks date all the way back to the 1950s with on-screen icons like Grace Kelly through modern-day celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong'o, and Bella Hadid.
Designers leaning in on couture drama has led to some of the most amazing looks the red carpet has ever seen.
The world's most glamorous film festival—also known as Cannes—is also one of the most important fashion red carpets in the world. There's something about the setting (the warm, gorgeous French Riviera), the A-list celebrities in attendance, and the event's black-tie dress code that comes together beautifully.
Only the most glamorous and high-fashion looks are allowed on the red carpet (although, as you'll see, attendees have sometimes played fast and loose with the rules—with sometimes amazing results). Unlike other awards shows, there's joy in the drama at the Cannes Film Festival. Even though the organizers banned nude gowns and enormous trains in advance of the 2025 event, designers still revel in over-the-top designs.
When Grace Kelly and Sophia Loren first attended the festival in the 1950s, channeling Old Hollywood style, Cannes started becoming synonymous with glamour and spectacle. In the '90s, '00s, and beyond, designers began marrying the prestige of the event with high-stakes drama in new and exciting ways. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, designers kicked it into high gear, with everything from vintage Versace to the most artfully sheer Oscar de la Renta you've ever seen. And, of course, the event's most famous dress to ever appear on the red carpet‚ the so-called "butterfly dress," also had to make this list. The result is some of the most theatrical fashion looks in celebrity history. Truly, Cannes has helped define and redefine red carpet couture.
Below are 10 of the best, most gorgeous Cannes outfits of all time.
01 of 10
Grace Kelly's 'To Catch a Thief' Gown
Grace Kelly in a stole and gown at Cannes
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In Grace Kelly's relatively short time as a starlet, she wore some of the most beautiful gowns on the red carpet. Here, in April 1955, she attended the To Catch a Thief premiere with then-boyfriend Jean-Pierre Aumont. With a classic furred stole around her shoulders, the simple gown was exquisite and regal-looking. It was a look perfectly matched to her film character; She had been dressed for the film by legendary costume designer Edith Head. Fun fact: This was the same Cannes trip where she would later meet Prince Rainier III in May. Only one year later, she would marry him and become Princess of Monaco.
02 of 10
Sophia Loren's Big Style Moment at Cannes
Sophia Loren in an ornate gown at Cannes
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Sophia Loren also attended the 1955 Cannes Film Festival in a princess gown with a deep sweetheart neckline. Loren was a rising star at this time. This glamorous beaded gown cemented her status as a fashion force (and an up-and-coming star). Keeping her dark hair up and wearing a stole over her shoulders, this would become Loren's signature look. The actor's on-screen persona was glamorous, complex, and passionate, and her style was an embodiment of that.
03 of 10
Jane Birkin's Signature (Casual) Accessory
Jane Birkin in a short dress and basket bag at Cannes
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Each time Jane Birkin attended Cannes, she wore a gorgeous and often boundary-pushing look. In 1969, she infamously went to a Cannes gala wearing a long white dress—backwards—with a brooch to hold the low v-neck closed. Here, in 1974, Birkin attended with partner Serge Gainsbourg. She wore a shorter dress, which in itself was already daring for the event. She added a long, chunky necklace, silver sandals, and a basket bag filled to the brim. That accessory was part of her trademark style, but it was deeply, surprisingly casual for its time. This is seen as one of Birkin's boldest fashion looks among a career full of them.
04 of 10
Angelina Jolie in Green Grecian Perfection
Angelina Jolie in flowing green at Cannes
Credit: Getty
In the '90s, the Cannes red carpet started becoming a place for daring couture looks. But the '00s started to see capital g Glamour return to the carpet. Angelina Jolie's olive green dress by Max Azria Atelier to the Kung Fu Panda premiere was a particularly defining moment in red carpet history. Jolie, who was pregnant with twins Knox and Vivienne, wore this goddess-style dress to accommodate her growing bump. It helped redefine red carpet maternity style, for one thing. But it was also designed to contrast beautifully with the red carpet, making her literally stand out from the crowd.
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05 of 10
Lupita Nyong'o Shuts Down Cannes in Gucci
Lupita Nyong'o in green and silver at Cannes
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Bold, bright Cannes dresses continued to grow in popularity. Lupita Nyong'o attended the opening ceremony of the festival in 2015 with one of her best red carpet looks. This jade-green chiffon gown, which had been designed by Gucci's Alessandro Michele, featured a billowy skirt and train. Nyong'o gamely flung the skirt into the air and twirled around, making for a gorgeous look in motion. The hand-painted silk flowers and crystal embroidery added contrast and visual interest to the draping fabric. It's still known as one of the best Cannes gowns ever.
06 of 10
The Infamous "Butterfly Dress" on Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai in butterfly gown at Cannes
Credit: Getty
Known as the "butterfly dress," this is probably one of the most well-known and most-loved Cannes gowns of all time. It was bespoke and designed by Michael Cinco in 2018; The gown featured a 20-foot-long trained and purple, blue, and red Swarovski crystals. It took 3,000 hours to make and was inspired by a "butterfly metamorphosis." When Indian actor Aishwarya Rai wore it to the premiere of Girls of the Sun, the long train trailing behind her as she ascended the stairs, she instantly set the bar for all other Cannes dresses to come. This dress, more than any other on this list, upped the ante on couture gowns at the festival.
07 of 10
Gemma Chan's Strategically Sheer Oscar de la Renta
Gemma Chan in semi-sheer gold at Cannes
Credit: Getty
The 2021 Cannes Film Festival was significant for a few reasons—most notably because it was a return to public events after the COVID-19 pandemic. This custom Oscar de la Renta on Gemma Chan was artfully sheer. Many dresses on the Cannes red carpet are skin-baring, but this was so beautifully structured with sequined appliques that you had to look closely to see just how sheer it was. Chan wore the look to the closing ceremony, and it was widely celebrated as one of the best looks of the entire multi-day festival. This was Chan's Cannes debut!
08 of 10
Jennifer Lawrence in Dior (and a Surprise Shoe)
Jennifer Lawrences in red at Cannes
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Jennifer Lawrence's gorgeous red Dior gown was an instant standout at the 2023 festival. There to attend the premiere of Anatomy of a Fall, Lawrence looked regal (and complementary with the carpet). But the look had a fun secret: Lawrence was actually wearing flip-flops underneath. The choice raised some eyebrows in fashion circles at the time, as casual footwear is not included in the Cannes dress code. “I had no idea until it came out that there was a whole controversy with people wearing flats or walking down the red carpet barefoot, I had no clue,” she later said, citing that the heels she'd planned to wear were a size too big. Now, though, the choice of footwear makes the look more enduring in its whimsy.
09 of 10
Viola Davis Bedecked in Valentino Ostrich Feathers
Viola Davis in white feathers at Cannes
Credit: Getty
Viola Davis has said that she felt like a queen in this dress at the 2023 screening of Monster. And you can tell! This ivory Valentino gown with feathered cape paired beautifully with her natural afro-textured hair. The actor maximized the drama of the dress by posing with her arms out, showing off the crystallized floral appliqué of her gown and strands of silver tinsel on her coat. What made the moment even more legendary was Davis' husband, Julius Tennon, in the background of some shots, gazing upon her with love and adoration.
10 of 10
Bella Hadid in Vintage Versace Chic
Bella Hadid in black with sparkles at Cannes
Credit: Getty
Bella Hadid has had a number of attention-grabbing Cannes looks. But this look, from the premiere of L’Amour Ouf, might be the most glamorous. This was vintage Versace from the spring 2001 couture show, with a halter neck bodice and sequined skirt that were simple but incredibly dramatic. Later in the day, Hadid changed into yet another vintage Versace: a sleeveless white boatneck dress embroidered with delicate silver beads. And she wore two other archival looks while she was there. It was a vintage-inspired trip for Hadid!
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