Cannes Film Festival bans nudity on the red carpet. What does it mean for the ‘naked’ dress?

Bella Hadid attended the "The Apprentice" premiere at Cannes Film Festival in 2024, wearing a sheer Saint Laurent dress that today might be a dress code violation according to new rules. (Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Over the last few years, one styling trend has dominated the red carpet circuit more plainly than any other in recent memory. The ‘naked’ dress — a gown built on the suggestion of exposing its wearer’s nudity — quickly revealed itself as a surefire way for celebrities to grab headlines and has therefore enjoyed full-frontal support from a number of those in show business.

But any celebrity stylist bound for the South of France hoping to enlist the powerful tools of chiffon or sheer lace will need to think again after an amendment was spotted in the Cannes Film Festival dress code just 24-hours ahead of the event’s grand opening this Tuesday. According to the organizer’s website, “nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as any other area of the festival.” The decision, which will have a direct impact on the ever-growing ‘naked’ dress trend, has been taken “for decency reasons,” it added.

It’s fair to say, this year’s Cannes red carpet will look drastically different. Just last year, model Bella Hadid arrived in a sandy-brown Saint Laurent number with a completely sheer halter-neck top. Also by Saint Laurent was photographer Nadia Lee Cohen’s slinky see-through knit dress worn to the premiere of the film “The Shrouds.” A few days later, actress Vicky Krieps went for a transparent boudoir-themed Armani Privé gown. It’s unclear, however, if any of these dresses would be permitted at this year’s festivities, given they reveal varying degrees of undress. In fact, ‘naked’ dresses are not created equal — at least not equally exposing.

Instead of providing clarity and guidance around sartorial choices, the added clause in Cannes’ dress code potentially raises more questions. What is their definition of nudity? Would a printed image of a birthday suit, such as those found on Jean-Paul Gaultier’s dresses from the 1990s, breach the new dress code? Or does nakedness only resonate in 3D? Is nudity regarded holistically, or does a flashed nipple — a la Florence Pugh in hot pink Valentino — risk entry refusal to the Croisette?

The updated guidance — which is one of two major changes to the dress code, alongside a ban on “voluminous” outfits with a large train (sorry, Diana Ross) — may have been influenced not just by the ubiquity of such dresses, but extreme cases that overshadowed the events to which they were worn. Earlier this year, Bianca Censori raised the stakes on barely-there frocks when she donned a piece of translucent netting to the Grammys alongside her husband Ye. Forgoing underwear, and arguably any artistic flourish, the outfit seemed to mark a new era of the trend — where the power of suggestion had been thwarted by the blunt force of shock value.

For Cannes Film Festival organizers, it’s the kind of exhibitionism they would rather keep on the beach and off their red carpet.