The annual Cannes Film Festival, which officially kicked off yesterday, is known as one of the most glamorous film festivals in the world—perhaps the most glamorous, rivaled closely by the Venice Film Festival. Every year, the Cannes red carpet brings forward unparalleled glitz, with A-listers donning their best formal gowns and tuxedos. Turns out, such fabulous fashions are required: A strict cocktail or black-tie dress code is always implemented, and this extends right down to the shoes (according to the official Cannes website, “elegant shoes, with or without heels, are required. Trainers are forbidden.”)
Much has been said about the festival’s footwear requirements in the past. Though it now encapsulates elegant flats, there was a time when women could only wear heeled stilettos to the affair—a mandate that many have viewed as sexist and archaic. The outdated approach that has caused many celebrities in attendance to make statement about it. Remember when Kristen Stewart boldly removed her Christian Louboutin pumps on the carpet? “I feel like you can’t ask people that any more,” Stewart said in 2017. “If you’re not asking guys to wear heels and a dress, you cannot ask me either.” Julia Roberts went barefoot back in 2016, while last year, Jennifer Lawrence made waves when she paired her Dior couture gown with a pair of black flip-flops. (Lawrence later said she didn’t know she was breaking protocol; “I had no clue. My shoes were a size too big.”)