Telling a fashion girl not to walk a red carpet in a naked dress will undeniably have the opposite effect. The 2026 Cannes Film Festival dress code didn't prohibit sheer styles from Daisy Edgar-Jones's wardrobe rack. It just required her to get a bit more creative in the nearly-naked department.
Few celebrity guests have dared to defy the dress code since the first Cannes 2026 premiere on May 12. Everyone from Barbara Palvin to Demi Moore has stayed loyal to the no-nudity clause in opaque gowns from Miu Miu, Gucci, Jacquemus, and more. Props to Edgar-Jones for sneaking past the dress code regulators in a semi-sheer dress from Balenciaga Fall 2026.
Stylist Dani Michelle chose Look 80 from Balenciaga's latest collection: a sleeveless column slip with enough opacity to offset splotches of nakedness. The delicately-draped bodice was sculpted from 70-percent nude chiffon and 30-percent illusion mesh. Silver sequins placed on top of the nontransparent portions helped draw eyes away from her torso's see-through sections. Denser ruching around the actor's waist ensured not a single Cannes coordinator blinked twice before she ascended the theater's iconic staircase. Surprisingly, the plunging side cut-out wasn't a concern either.
Sporadically-embroidered pailettes increased en masse atop Edgar-Jones's skirt, while the skin-colored mesh disappeared altogether. The silhouette of her legs still emerged from beneath the train, though. Plus, its hip-high slit was completely unmissable—especially when her bedazzled, champagne-colored sandals slipped through the gap.
Perhaps red carpet security was too entranced by the Twisters star's $225,000 Boucheron necklace to notice just how sheer her dress was. Not only were the pendant's 854 diamonds distracting, the placement revived the backwards necklace trend from last year's red carpet rotation. Smart move, Michelle. To finish, Edgar-Jones frosted her ears with Boucheron's floral diamond stud earrings.
No one has dared to go this sheer at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival yet. Not even Bella Hadid has taken the risk, despite naked dresses being her Cannes signature in pre-dress code years past. (May the memory of her nakedest Saint Laurent dress in 2024 live on.) This year, Hadid's custom Prada dress and vintage Elie Saab gown have followed the dress code to a T.
But now, Edgar-Jones proved VIPs can sneak naked dresses onto the red carpet unnoticed. Perhaps she'll give fellow A-listers the courage to break the rules.
