Halle Berry, Juliette Binoche Wave the French Flag at Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony

Yahoo

14-05-2025

CANNES, France — Chanel, Dior and Jacquemus.
The Cannes Film Festival kicked off with jurors flying the flag for French designers and houses.
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Halle Berry showed her true stripes in a graphic monochrome gown from Jacquemus.
The juror, who told WWD she is ready to usher in a new fashion era during the festival's fortnight, wore a bold, floor-length trapeze gown with a pink bustle for the opening ceremony, which took place Tuesday night.
Berry's look was from the Parisian designer's most recent 'La Croisière' collection, completed with a clutch and sandals also from the brand.
The Jacquemus look was selected after Berry admitted she had to make a last-minute outfit change due to the festival introducing a new dress code, which was revealed on Monday. The new rules prohibit nudity on the red carpet — the point perhaps most mentioned in the press — as well as overly voluminous dresses and gowns with excessively long trains.
'I had an amazing dress by [Gaurav] Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it's too big of a train,' she said at the morning's press conference, where she was sporting a Chanel suit in classic black tweed.
The graphic look was covered up to the neck and in line with the new caution against naked dresses.
'I'm not going to break the rules. The nudity part is also probably a good rule,' Berry added.
On the red carpet, Heidi Klum seemed to challenge the festival organizers in a pink Elie Saab Haute Couture gown complete with a floral train that was several feet long.
Dior dressed two of Berry's fellow jurors. Jury president Juliette Binoche wore a dramatic, hooded off-white silk crepe top and pant look from the house's haute couture collection. She completed the look with earrings from Chopard.
Binoche gave a passionate speech, touching on global warming, misogyny and war as continually pressing issues.
'Artists have the opportunity to bear witness for others. The higher the level of suffering, the more vital the level of involvement becomes,' she said. 'We must act today, immediately, without violence but with passion, with determination. The time has come, everyone who loves freedom must organize, protest, and the time has also come to vote, when there are elections.'
French author Leila Slimani wore a Dior off white cape silk dress.
Chanel dressed juror Alba Rohrwacher in a custom look reinterpreted from the spring 1987 haute couture collection. The look featured a bow across the bodice, two tiers and delicate draping at the back. Chopard jewels also completed her look.
On the men's side, Leonardo DiCaprio made a surprise appearance at the opening ceremony to honor Robert De Niro.
The famously photo-averse DiCaprio skipped the red carpet and entered the Palais des Festivals from a secured entrance and made his way to the stage via the theater's tunnels. He took to the stage to present De Niro with an honorary Palme d'Or, and said the iconic actor was a role model for an entire generation of actors.
DiCaprio was dressed by Celine, an LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned brand, for the occasion.
De Niro gave a passionate speech directed at U.S. President Donald Trump. The Oscar winner decried cuts by the new administration for the arts and higher eduction.
'Now he is announcing 100 percent customs duties on films produced outside of the United States,' said De Niro, citing the topic that has been buzzing around Cannes as the film festival opens.
'This is unacceptable….It is not just an American problem; it is a problem of global scope.'
'Art is inclusive, art is in search of freedom, art includes diversity and that is why art is threatened. That is why we are a threat to the autocrats and fascists of this world,' he added.
Jeremy Strong was thinking pink. The actor and jury member wore a bespoke Loro Piana full tux look — bowtie, cummerbund and all — in a dusty pink shade called 'rosewood.' Earlier in the day, he was sporting a similar sunset hue in a corduroy track suit completed with his signature bucket hat all by Loro Piana, with pink '80s-style sneakers from Lanvin.
It seems the 'Succession' actor will remain loyal to Loro Piana. He wore a turquoise velvet suit from the brand to the Golden Globes earlier this year, and started off the film festival wearing a bespoke lavender linen suit from the LVMH-owned brand for the jury's official opening dinner Monday night.
Dior outfitted Quentin Tarantino in a tuxedo from Kim Jones, and 'Nope' actor Daniel Kaluuya, who is a member of the Un Certain Regard jury.
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