Cannes 2025 rules ban ‘naked dressing’, long trains: How did the fashion trends originate?

Here’s what to know.

What is all the fuss about?

A statement from the organisers said, “For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the Red Carpet, as well as in any other area of the Festival.” “Naked dressing” has been grabbing headlines at almost all big international cultural events over the last few years — the most recent being celebrity Bianca Censori’s see-through dress at the Grammys this year.

While the present-day rendition of the style is an almost literal translation, as in clothes that reveal skin, the idea was different when it was introduced in the 1930s. Originally, it referred to what we today know as the strapless dress, fashion writer and historian Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell said in a 2023 interview with BBC Culture. “In the 1930s, the term was used to describe a strapless dress, because they looked so bare to people then,” she said.

The notion of the naked dress is rooted in its perception, either in its sheerness or silhouette, that the woman wearing it appears naked. One of its early patrons was American actor Jean Harlow, who in her 1933 film Bombshell owned the look in a cream-toned halter-neck silk gown that flattered her figure.

It was, however, Marilyn Monroe who made the naked dress a global fashion phenomenon. In 1962, she wore a sheer, sequinned, skin-toned gown by French-American costume designer Jean Louis at Madison Square Garden for US President John F Kennedy’s birthday.

Interestingly, what Cannes is deeming indecent today was perceived as powerful when Monroe wore it. The Daily Mail in 2022 quoted designer Bob Mackie, who worked on the dress with Louis: “That kind of dress, the illusion of being naked, thinking you can see something but you really can’t. It was magical and it was simple. It was simple, yet so powerful.”

While the naked dress has been recreated by a number of celebrities, including Beyonce, Emily Ratajkowski and Kate Moss, it is Bella Hadid who has been championing it on the Cannes red carpet. This year, the American supermodel turned up in a black backless Saint Laurent gown, with a cowl neck, and a waist-high slit on one side. It managed to skirt the Cannes rule-book on technicality, but was still a headline-grabber.

Bella Hadid during the opening ceremony red carpet of the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

So long, trails

The other, less controversial, rule bans trail dresses and gowns. The organisers reasoned: “Voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train, that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theater are not permitted.” Reportedly, each individual gets about 10 minutes on the red carpet, and those in large trailing outfits often overstay their welcome.

The train has its origins in Victorian sartorial sensibilities, which believed in preserving a woman’s modesty. Longer the hemline, the better. Even the hands were covered by gloves. It was the inconvenience of navigating everyday life that eventually led to the advent of (hobble) skirts with shorter and narrower hemlines, with the style continuing to evolve through the 19th and 20th centuries. Trains continue to exist in contemporary fashion, mostly as part of wedding gowns.

Although the acceptable train length is unclear this time, it has been serious enough for American actor and festival jury member Halle Berry to drop her original outfit by Indian designer Gaurav Gupta at the last minute. At the Cannes jury press conference, she said, “I had an amazing dress by Gupta to wear tonight, and I cannot wear it because the train’s too big.”

The opening day, however, wasn’t completely trail-free. German model Heidi Klum’s ruffled floral organza gown, designed by Elie Saab, reportedly had a three-metre-long train. Chinese actor Wan Qianhui made news for her voluminous Wang Feng gown, boasting a long fur-like taffeta train.

Indian A-listers Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone, and Sonam Kapoor have previously donned outfits with eye-catching trains. While Rai walked the carpet in an ornate Michael Cinco gown with a 20-foot train in 2018, Padukone’s see-through pink Zuhair Murad gown that year had a dramatic origami-like train. Kapoor’s Vera Wang tulle gown, too, was a sight to behold.

While Rai is set to return to Cannes, Alia Bhatt will make her debut this year. Veteran actors Simi Grewal and Sharmila Tagore, among other Indian names, will also walk the red carpet.

Trailing back

This is not the first time the Cannes Film Festival has been in the news for its dress code, supposedly originating in the evening wear rules for guests staying in the resort town hotels for the event. In fact, the festival has been notorious for being conservative and rigid since its launch in 1946.

At the time, the stipulated dress code for men was a jacket and tie, and women were expected to attend the event in high heels and long dresses.

Very little has changed in the nearly eight decades since. Under the 2025 rules, those attending the gala screenings shall come in “evening wear (long dress, tuxedo)”. “Alternatively, you may also wear ‘a little black dress’, a cocktail dress, a dark-colored pantsuit, a dressy top with black pants; elegant shoes and sandals with or without a heel (no sneakers); a black or navy-blue suit with bow-tie or dark-colored tie,” the organisers noted.

‘Rebels’ over the years

Attendees at Cannes have time and again bent, if not flouted, rules, perhaps giving the festival much more attention than it asked for. Among the most memorable and earliest of the Cannes rebels was Pablo Picasso. In 1953, at the screening of the thriller The Wages of Fear, the Italian artist layered a corduroy tuxedo with a shearling jacket.

More recently, much of the hullabaloo has been over heels, prompting the festival to broaden its footwear criteria for women. Uma Thurman was the pioneer. In 2011, she walked the carpet in flats that complemented her gown. It was in response to the organisers’ decision to refuse entry to women not wearing heels the previous year.

Five years later, Julia Roberts decided to do away with footwear and walk the red carpet barefoot. In 2018, actress Kristen Stewart recreated the moment when she removed her Louboutins. Her actions followed her now popular interview with The Hollywood Reporter the previous year, where she said, “There’s definitely a distinct dress code, right? People get very upset if you don’t wear heels or whatever. I feel like you can’t ask people that any more – it’s a given. If you’re not asking guys to wear heels and a dress, you cannot ask me either.”

Day one of the 78th Cannes Film Festival has already thrown up rebels in Klum and Qianhui. It is to be seen who else joins the list.