Halle Berry was one of the stars directly affected by the Cannes Film Festival’s new dress code.
“I had an amazing dress by Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train,” Berry said of her look for opening night during the Cannes jury press conference on Tuesday, May 13, per Variety. “I’m not going to break the rules.”
Berry donned a black-and-white striped halter dress for the event’s opening night gala. She is a member of the Cannes jury, which also includes Succession star Jeremy Strong, All We Imagine as Light director Payal Kapadia, South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo, Italian actor Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, Congolese documentarist Dieudo Hamadi and Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas. Juliette Binoche oversees the jury as president.
When arriving the day before, Berry wore a charcoal blazer and skirt ensemble.
“The nudity part is also probably a good rule,” Berry said of the festival’s decision to ban naked or nearly-naked dresses.
The day before, the festival made headlines for its new restrictions on what stars can wear for the event’s red carpet. One of the major changes was the festival prohibiting naked dresses, a trend that has recently taken red carpets by storm.
“Nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival,” the guidelines read, citing “decency reasons.”
In addition to banning naked dresses, Cannes also put limitations on garments with excessive trains.
“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,” the new rule stated.
While numerous clothing styles have been limited, Cannes’ official website offered a series of suggestions for what men and women could wear. Cannes requires its guests to dress in evening wear. Women could opt for “a little black dress, a cocktail dress, a dark-colored pantsuit, a dressy top with black pants,” while men can select “a black or navy blue suit with bow-tie or dark-colored tie.”
In addition to the clothes themselves, there are also constraints on footwear. Guests must wear “elegant shoes and sandals with or without a heel,” meaning that sneakers are banned as well.
Cannes warned that those in violation of the new rules will not be able to attend the red carpet.
“The Festival welcoming teams will be obligated to prohibit red carpet access to anyone not respecting these rules,” the statement read, noting that “for all other screenings, proper attire is sufficient.”
