It takes some audacity to force Academy Award winner and Hollywood icon Halle Berry to change her clothes, but the Cannes Film Festival's dress code still did.
Berry, a competition juror at the annual film festival, planned to walk the opening ceremony's red carpet at the Palais des Festivals wearing Indian designer Gurav Gupta. The couturier is best known for dressing stars like Adele in pieces with sculptural shoulders, full skirts, and trains with a length to rival the carpet itself. But the updated Cannes dress code decreed a ban on "voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train." And while guests like Heidi Klum still committed to their original, high-volume pieces anyway, Halle Berry saw no other course of action but to make a last-minute switch.
"I had an amazing dress by Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train," Berry told Variety. "I’m not going to break the rules."
Instead, Berry ascended the theatre steps in a trapeze gown by Jacquemus. Vertical black and white stripes fit the French Riviera vibe, while a hidden tulle layer created extra volume in the back. Crucially, the star's dress did not include any bit of fabric that could be mistaken for a train (or tripped over like one). She copied the piece's original runway styling with a black leather pouch and sandals.
Halle Berry is hardly the only star experiencing a style shift with the dress code to blame. Bella Hadid's Saint Laurent gown for the same opening ceremony is no doubt inspired by the updated rules, which also codify an anti-nudity requirement: Last year, she went completely sheer in another Saint Laurent ensemble. Neither of these women will miss out on the Cannes best-dressed list on account of the changing rules—but wouldn't it be nice if they could wear exactly what they wanted to?
Still, Berry said half the updated requirements are fine by her. "The nudity part is also probably a good rule."
