Festival de Blazy: Chanel looks at the Cannes Film Festival
by Louis Lorgis-Leech
From Marion Cotillard to Kristen Stewart find out how Chanel has dressed our favourite stars at this years Cannes Film Festival for the red carpet.
Welcome to the red carpet of Cannes Film Festival 2026 where Chanel trades in its classic tweed for more experimental designs!
While a couple of stars managed to match red-carpet energy, this year’s festival saw an influx of chaotic textures, clashing patterns, and forced “edgy” vibes that left us wondering whether or not the iconic French house has lost its sartorial compass.
Supermodel Liu Wen
This has to be my favourite look from Chanel at Cannes Film Festival 2026 from the Fall Winter 2026 show (look 73.)
It beautifully blends romance and drama through a vibrant mishmash of textures, featuring delicate pink feathers at the shoulders that flow into an intricate, mosaic-like floral lace overlay. The lively contrast of orange, pink, and black embroidered floral motifs imbues the dress with an interesting 3D texture that captures the vivid essence of nature.
Rating: 9/10
Kristen Stewart
Here we have Kristen Stewart in one of her two Chanel looks wearing look 51 modelled by Anok Yai from the Fall Winter 2026 show. This striking gown features a heavily textured, red and black crocheted mesh that brings a bold edge to the carpet. The sleeveless design opens up into a subtle boat neckline, leaving Stewart’s shoulders bare and allowing her arm tattoos to remain fully visible as part of the overall modernized aesthetic. While the column shape effectively elongates her silhouette, the dense, continuous arrangement of the pattern feels a bit heavy and overwhelming against her pale complexion.
Rating: 6/10
Marion Cotillard
One of the most iconic French actresses of our time Marion Cotillard wore look 51 from the recent Cruise collection shown in Biarritz modelled by Mona Tougaard. This “trying to be edgy” dress brings a rebellious energy to the red carpet, featuring a glossy, dropping-waist held up by delicate spaghetti straps mirroring the recent spaghetti style straps placed on the remodelled unquilted flap back. The heavy, voluminous skirt flows down into a dramatic, textured tier of thick fringe, a material that has been on trend for this Spring Summer season that adds an interesting layer to the unconventional silhouette.
I feel like the “rebellious” Chanel woman that is trying to be promoted by Blazy, that is to say, not being confined to classic materials like tweed and restrictive tailored silhouettes is being forced too much here. It is not a look fit for the carpet, especially given the logos…
Rating: 3/10
Marion Cotillard
Look 76 from Fall Winter 2026
This ensemble pairs a highly intricate flower-patterned lace suit with a bare, open stomach, creating a stark contrast between a traditionally delicate fabric and a more daring, uncovered midriff. The look is capped off with metallic gold-and-silver pointed pumps that add a sharp, futuristic shine, though the combination of the busy floral texture, the exposed midsection, and the bold footwear feels a bit overwhelming and mismatched rather than cohesive.
Rating: 3/10
Sandra Hüller
Sandra Hüller reinterprets look 33 from the Spring Summer Haute Couture show using a black instead of red column skirt and slightly reducing the volume of the top over the head.
The top of this outfit completely overwhelms the silhouette looking less like high fashion and more like an explosion of a sea urchin. Or maybe it does look like “haute couture” for that reason.. The sheer density of the feathery texture clashes harshly with the simple column skirt below, making Hüller appear to be swallowed by the statement piece.
Rating: 3/10
Sandra Hüller
Sandra’s next look (38) from the 2026 Métiers D’art station staged in an empty subway station in New York minus the flower embellishments and the red faux croc belt.
This look leans heavily into a plaid-on-plaid pattern that unfortunately dates the outfit rather than making it feel modern, the opposite of what Blazy’s intentions for the house are. The clashing tartan prints awkwardly evoke a poorly coordinated picnic blanket instead of high-fashion evening wear.
Rating: 2/10
Anna Mouglalis
This unique piece from the same Haute Couture collection (look 15) brings a cool, avant-garde energy through its fearless blend of textures, though the heavily asymmetrical fringe and busy patterns risk veering into a slightly chaotic mishmash.
The vibrant, iridescent purple accents beautifully mimic the eye of a peacock feather which I particularly enjoy, grounding an otherwise “Hawaiian tack meets chic” vibe into something striking for an event. Red carpet though? Not sure…
Rating: 5/10
Riley Keough
Kristen Stewart
Riley Keough & Kristen Stewart
Keough is wearing Look 1 from Spring Summer Haute Couture 2026
Stewart is wearing Look 15 from Spring Summer Haute Couture 2026
Both sheer, breezy looks beautifully highlight the meticulous craftsmanship of Blazy’s Spring Summer 2026 Haute Couture collection, making the raw construction of the garments as much a focal point as the final product. While Stewart’s mesh ensemble plays on an open, structural framework with trainers (interesting choice), Keough’s sheer organza layers focus on internal elements such as buttons and pockets, bordered by intricate, pearl and bead-fringed hems. Ultimately, both defy traditional Cannes film festival traditional dresscode.
Stewart rating: 2/10
Keough rating: 4/10
The Final Verdict?
As the curtain falls on Cannes for this years 2 week long festival, it’s clear that Chanel’s aggressive push toward a rebellious, untethered aesthetic is hitting a major identity crisis. While I applaud the fearless defying of traditional event dress codes, subverting classic elegance for the sake of being “different” has unfortunately left the majority our favourite starlets looking less like high-fashion icons and more like an expensive mismatch.