Vir Das takes a stand against Cannes ‘no naked dress’ rule, fights for ‘voluminous gowns with large trains’: ‘Will no longer be attending’

Comedian Vir Das finds himself right in the eye of the storm, or under a big spotlight, almost every time he takes the stage or takes a stand. Das invited more attention and clamour as he posted a hilarious note on his Instagram account making fun of the no ‘naked-dress’ policy rolled out by the Cannes International Film Festival for this year. While there haven’t been any concerning reactions as of yet, Das used some colourful language to describe his planned outfit for this year’s festival.

Vir Das’ post on Instagram.

The comedian talked about the significance of ‘nude voluminous gowns’ to the world of comedy and then proceeded to describe his outfit, a “dark-beige, 78-foot-long, off-shoulder piece that moved finely into sleeves that covered my wrists”. He concluded his note saying, “I refuse to let our culture be shunted. I was planning on taking multiple selfies of cultural significance. But someone has to take a stand. I wish the festival all the best.” The ‘voluminous gowns’ detail was a reference to the actual policy rolled out by the festival, in which they decreed that “voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train, that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theatre are not permitted.”

ALSO READ: Halle Berry forced to change Indian designer Gaurav Gupta’s outfit for Cannes 2025: ‘I’m not going to break the rules’

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Throughout the years, the festival’s and the city of Cannes’ take on what women can wear or not has been confusing and paradoxical. They once made a rule that women couldn’t wear flats to the event, and in 2016 the mayor of Cannes had even banned burkinis from beaches, citing that they might “disrupt public order while France was the target of terrorist attacks”.

An incident which probably fuelled the fire of polarising fashion choices on the red carpet was when Kanye West and wife Bianca Censori turned heads at the Grammys earlier this year. Bianca appeared on the red carpet wearing a sheer dress, leaving her completely exposed in front of the cameras. The couple was later escorted out of the venue by the police and was seen leaving mid-event.

While Cannes has rolled out the policy, it still remains to be seen how they are going to police it. Many, like Julia Roberts and Kristen Stewart, have gone against the rules set by the festival when they took a stand against the ‘no flats’ dress code.