Nothing says “I run this place” like showing up to the Cannes Film Festival in nothing but a dressing gown. Over the weekend, Isabelle Huppert hit peak movie star nonchalance as she turned a furry bathrobe into the ultimate red carpet look.
Huppert looked like the epitome of Parisian chic during Sunday’s Horizon: An American Saga red carpet. The French acting legend donned a custom outfit from Balenciaga which, despite first appearing to mimic the look of a bathrobe, was much more than what met the eye. For starters, her look featured a daring side slit which Huppert accented with a flesh-tone pair of Balenciaga’s signature pantaboots—yes, the ones that Kim Kardashian has made a de-facto part of her wardrobe.
But the real star here was the structured, almost off-the-shoulder collar that completed the top portion of Huppert’s dress. The elegant detail quite literally brought the dress from the salle de bain to the red carpet, especially considering that Huppert accessorized things with a blinding stack of diamond tennis necklaces worn ever-so casually around her décolletage. The dress also featured a faux waist tie that wrapped around Huppert’s figure. The actress topped off her look with a casual bob hairdo, chunky silver earrings, and some cat-eye sunglasses that proved she does, in fact, run this place.
The Cannes Film Festival is notoriously strict when it comes to what guests can wear on the red carpet which makes Huppert’s choice of dress all that more interesting. According to the festival’s website, “a dinner jacket (tuxedo) with a bow tie or evening dress is required” to even step foot on the red carpet. However, the protocol also suggest that guests can “wear a cocktail dress, a dark trouser suit, a dressy top with black trousers, a black dress, a black or midnight blue suit with a bow tie.” Of course, “Elegant shoes, with or without heels, are required.”
Now, Huppert’s dress isn’t anywhere close to the levels of potentially code-breaking criteria when compared to the likes of Bella Hadid who wore a completely-sheer look this year. And as a former Cannes jury president, the actress is more likely to get away with flouting the dress code than your average guest. She is the Isabelle Huppert, after all.
