As Cannes shuns nudity, the days of the naked dress are numbered

Telegraph

12-05-2025

It's a trend about as divisive (and seemingly oxymoronic) as they come: the naked dress. But despite their polarising potential, sheer and semi-sheer gowns crafted from lace, mesh, chain-mail and the like are everywhere on the red carpet, with A-listers donning increasingly daring looks – and attracting varying degrees of praise and criticism in the process.
But there will be no fashionable exhibitionism at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Beginning on Tuesday 13 May, there's a new rule in the annual festival's evening wear dress code, which states: 'For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival.' The Cannes 'welcoming teams' will allegedly prohibit access to anyone disregarding the rules.
For fashion fans, as well as attendees, this raises a number of questions. Does a sheer dress constitute nudity? And, if it does, could this be the beginning of a wider shunning of boldly revealing outfits, sounding the death knell for a controversial trend?
'Call me old-fashioned, but I'm quite excited to just see the red carpet clothes and not the body beneath them,' says Billie Bhatia, a writer who's commented at length on the politics of naked dressing. 'One part of me, of course, does not support the policing of bodies – male or female – but is it so wrong to protect the modesty of an event steeped in history and culture? And wouldn't it be more impactful to read headlines about brilliant pieces of work by film-makers, rather than a potential nipple slip?'
In 2024, Cannes was a sea of sheer gowns, including those worn by Eva Green, Naomi Campbell, Elle Fanning and Bella Hadid. The latter made headlines in a caramel-hued Saint Laurent piece that featured a halterneck crafted from 10-denier hosiery.
Despite detractors, there are others who appreciate the artistry. 'There are designers who do this trend so beautifully, it would be a disservice to how they celebrate the female form if we start banning them,' says Eshita Kabra-Davies, founder of fashion rental platform By Rotation. 'Fashion is one of the purest forms of self-expression, and the so-called 'naked' dress is a powerful example of that.' It will be interesting to see if festival attendees who share this mentality bring 'nudity' protest looks to the French Riviera this year.
It wouldn't be the first time the Cannes red carpet, which has long been a place of politically charged dressing, has become a sartorial battleground. From a woman dressed in the colours of the Ukraine flag pouring fake blood on herself in 2023 to Bella Hadid (and potentially Cate Blanchett) showing support for Palestine, it's seen many expressions of dissent.
Multiple actors protested the festival's unofficial heels for women rule, including Kristen Stewart, who memorably removed her sky-high Louboutins mid-carpet in 2018. 'Elegant shoes with or without a heel' are now permitted – just no trainers.
Will naked dresses prove as contentious? They certainly hold an important place in the annals of fashion history, arguably born the night Marilyn Monroe wore a sheer Jean Louis gown to sing 'Happy birthday Mr President' to John F Kennedy in 1962. The dress, which sold for a record price of $4.8 million (£3.87 million) at auction in 2016, was controversially re-worn by Kim Kardashian to the 2022 Met Gala – much to the chagrin of fans of the delicate piece.
Another influential example that upped the sheer stakes came in 1993, when a fresh-faced Kate Moss was photographed wearing a bias-cut slip dress with visible black knickers and no bra. Years later, Moss told British Vogue she hadn't realised the dress was so see-through, and that the flash of the paparazzi bulb had heightened its translucence.
Whatever its defining moment, the penchant for baring almost all has persisted, with high-profile examples becoming ever more risqué. In the last week alone, we've seen Cara Delevingne attend the London premiere of David Attenborough's Ocean in a plunging silver mesh dress with trompe l'oeil embroidery in place of underwear, and Halle Berry take to the Met Gala red carpet in a LaQuan Smith gown that featured sheer vertical stripes.
Like any naked look, these attracted their share of criticism online. Perhaps the biggest recent backlash was sparked when Bianca Censori wore a transparent skin-tight dress on the Grammys red carpet earlier this year. The stunt led to concerns not only about public decency – likely front of mind for the Cannes ban – but also about Censori's relationship with Kanye West. The line between celebrating women's bodies and objectifying, even commodifying, them can feel particularly fine in this complex realm.
Many maintain that the naked dress is a tool for empowerment, the liberating opposite of a draconian dress code. 'It's not just about revealing skin, it's about feeling confident in your own body and choosing pieces that reflect how you want to show up in the world,' says Kabra-Davies. 'Designers like Nensi Dojaka and Di Petsa create dresses that are both empowering and elegant.'
But it's certainly not for everyone. 'Personally, I struggle with the concept as a whole,' says Bhatia. 'I understand the empowering nature of a sheer dress – it feels emboldening and sometimes just plain old jaw-dropping, but the surrounding conversation on who is celebrated in sheer and who is criticised is problematic.'
A case in point came when 57-year-old Davina McCall wore a lace gown atop black underwear at the 2025 Brit Awards in February. After the event, Eamonn Holmes made disparaging comments about the outfit – including that he felt 'embarrassed' by it. But on the Brits red carpet, McCall was full of defiance, explaining: 'I just thought, how disgraceful can I look? I'm growing old disgracefully. [...] I thought: go see-through.'
It was heartening to see a midlife woman embrace the trend so boldly. That said, it cannot be overlooked that McCall and most other high-profile naked dressers – whether derided or applauded – are slim women. For all its liberating potential, there's also an undeniable sense that this is an exclusionary trend. Many of its proponents look fantastic, but it overwhelmingly feels like yet another impossible beauty standard to which women must attempt to live up.
In that respect, the Cannes ban might well be good news – both for those on the red carpet and those looking on. Bhatia, for one, is hopeful that it will bring a surge of creativity and more inclusive artistry: 'Wouldn't it be great to see a creation that can still flaunt and flatter any kind of physicality – a fashion work of art – celebrated on a body, without having an opinion on the body itself?' Wishful thinking, perhaps, but a mentality we might all do well to strive for.