In 2022, the Cannes Film Festival celebrated its 75th anniversary. While Cannes is ostensibly an event to debut new and exciting movies, as the name implies, it's also one of the most important fashion events of the year. Cannes can be a source of gorgeous couture fashion (like other red carpet events, of course), but what sets the festival apart is that it's the place to debut the most exciting, risqué, outlandish, over-the-top, ridiculous, and deeply fun fashion. Style was built into the festival's DNA, and early style icons like Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren became known entities because of the outfits they wore to the festival. Later style icons, including none other than Madonna, would later use the red carpet as their own personal style playground—and Cannes remains one of the most interesting and notable red carpets.
It's hard to pick the best, but we're trying to strike a balance: We've got some outfits that were daring and inspirational for their time, and we've got gowns that took thousands of hours to make and are sculptural in their beauty. Below, 32 of the best Cannes dresses of all time.
