The Luxury Closet Fashion Panel Takes Cannes Film Festival#
Introduction: Our Cannes Fashion Panel Is In Session#
There is no dress rehearsal at Cannes. The moment a celebrity sets foot on those famous Palais des Festivals steps, they are under the full scrutiny of the fashion world — styled within an inch of their lives, photographed from every angle, and dissected by editors from Paris to Dubai before the flashbulbs have even cooled.
The68th Festival de Cannes brought the usual spectacle: couture gowns cut for the gods, jewels borrowed from vaults most of us will never see, and the occasional styling decision that absolutely nobody signed off on. As L’Oréal Paris ambassadors and A-list guests descended on the Croisette, it became clear this was a vintage year for both brilliance and bafflement — sometimes from the same person, on the same night.
To make sense of it all, The Luxury Closet assembled its own editorial panel. We are not here to applaud everyone simply for showing up. We are here to tell you what actually worked, what didn’t, and why — drawing on our collective experience sourcing, styling, and evaluating the most covetable pieces in luxury fashion.
Meet the panel:
Caroline Berton — CRM Manager at The Luxury Closet and self-confessed accessories obsessive. Caroline has spent years tracking how the right (or wrong) handbag can make or break an otherwise perfect look. She doesn’t mince words.
Elisabeth Bohler — Category Manager for Handbags, Clothes & Shoes at The Luxury Closet. Elisabeth evaluates hundreds of designer pieces every month and brings a trained eye for construction, proportion, and the fine line between fashion-forward and fashion-mistake.
Lana Mirza — Senior Style Editor and The Luxury Closet’s resident red carpet authority. Lana has covered major fashion events across Europe and the Middle East, and has an almost supernatural ability to identify a collection reference at twenty paces.
How we score: Each look is judged across three categories — Outfit, Accessories, and Hair & Make-up — marked out of 5. Scores are awarded independently by each panellist, with commentary to match. No consensus is required, and disagreements are actively encouraged. That’s the point.
The Hits: Looks That Owned the Red Carpet#
These were the looks that made the Croisette their own — gowns worn with total conviction, styling that felt considered rather than committee-approved, and accessories that genuinely added to the story rather than competing with it.
Naomi Watts in Elie Saab Spring 2015 Couture#
Naomi Watts in Elie Saab Spring 2015 Couture at the Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony. Image courtesy of L’Oréal Paris.
If there is a designer made for the Cannes red carpet, it is Elie Saab — and Naomi Watts wearing his Spring 2015 Couture gown felt like a pairing that was simply inevitable. The blush-toned gown combined a plunging neckline with sculptural featherwork and embellished pearl detailing; glamorous in every sense, but structured enough to carry authority. This is Elie Saab couture at its most confident, and Watts wore it accordingly.
The panel was largely in agreement — with one notable exception around the accessories.
Caroline: “This was a perfect choice — it stands out beautifully against the red carpet and the gown’s construction is impeccable. The hair and make-up were simple and sophisticated, which is the right call with a dress this embellished. My only genuine complaint is the over-accessorising: the earrings and necklace are already enough. The additional pieces start to crowd the look.” Outfit: 5/5 | Accessories: 3/5 | Hair & Make-up: 4/5
Elisabeth: “A princess silhouette with a plunging neckline is exactly the combination you want at Cannes — glamour with a streak of attitude. The feather and pearl detailing reads beautifully in photographs. But that zebra clutch needs to go home. It is completely at odds with the rest of the ensemble and the disconnect is jarring every time your eye lands on it.” Outfit: 4/5 | Accessories: 2/5 | Hair & Make-up: 4/5
Lana: “Naomi Watts on the Cannes red carpet is a kind of institution at this point, and this look reinforced exactly why. Flawless, elegant, entirely assured. My score reflects what the total picture delivers — she remains the benchmark.” Outfit: 5/5 | Accessories: 4.5/5 | Hair & Make-up: 5/5
Karlie Kloss in Atelier [Versace](/brands/versace-eros-pour-femme-fragrance-launch/) Fall 2014#
Karlie Kloss in Atelier Versace Fall 2014 at the Cannes Film Festival. Image courtesy of L’Oréal Paris.
Where Naomi Watts delivered classic Cannes glamour, Karlie Kloss brought something more angular and modern. The Atelier Versace Fall 2014 jumpsuit — shimmering, precisely cut, with strategic cutout detailing — was a bolder choice than most would dare on the Croisette, and Kloss wore it with the kind of ease that makes bold choices look inevitable. Atelier Versace rarely underestimates a silhouette, and this piece was built for exactly this kind of height and frame.
The panel appreciated the ambition. Minor styling quibbles aside, the consensus was favourable.
Caroline: “She pulls this off because she has the physicality for it — the proportions work and the cutout detailing reads as sexy rather than trying-too-hard. I would have chosen different shoe colour to complement the metallic, and the hair felt slightly underpowered for a look this bold. But as a whole: effective.” Outfit: 4/5 | Accessories: 3/5 | Hair & Make-up: 2/5
Elisabeth: “Young, confident, physically suited to the cut — this jumpsuit works precisely because the wearer understands what it is asking of her. The cutout detailing is genuinely well-conceived. My only stylistic note is personal: I would have chosen a bangle over a ring. But that’s a minor point on an otherwise strong look.” Outfit: 4/5 | Accessories: 3/5 | Hair & Make-up: 4/5
Lana: “There is a particular kind of Cannes look that only certain people can execute, and this was Karlie Kloss’s moment. The futuristic shimmer, the disciplined hair, the jewellery pitched at exactly the right level — it came together without visible effort, which is the hardest thing to achieve.” Outfit: 4/5 | Accessories: 5/5 | Hair & Make-up: 5/5
The Misses: Moments That Missed the Mark#
Not every gown earns its place on the Croisette. These are the looks where the intention was clear — and the execution fell short.
Liya Kebede in Proenza Schouler Fall 2015#
Liya Kebede in Proenza Schouler Fall 2015 at the Cannes Film Festival. Image courtesy of L’Oréal Paris.
Proenza Schouler is a label that earns its credibility through considered, often provocative design — and the Fall 2015 collection was no exception. The fiery red shade of this piece was genuinely striking, and on a model of Kebede’s calibre, the colour alone had real presence. The problem was everything else: the shimmering cutout construction and grommet-embellished skirt sat in an uncomfortable middle ground between architectural statement and overworked novelty. The result read as confused rather than courageous.
This was the panel’s most decisive consensus of the evening.
Caroline: “I’m going to be direct: she looks like an oversized Christmas decoration, and her posture suggests she knows it. There is a version of this dress — stripped back, better edited — that could have been interesting. This wasn’t it. The accessories are fine, but they can’t rescue the overall picture.” Outfit: 1/5 | Accessories: 3/5 | Hair & Make-up: 3/5
Elisabeth: “I respect what she was attempting — a genuine fashion statement, a refusal to play it safe. And I don’t doubt the intention behind it. But admiring an ambition isn’t the same as the ambition landing, and this one didn’t. The hair and make-up were actually the strongest element of the look.” Outfit: 3/5 | Accessories: 4/5 | Hair & Make-up: 5/5
Lana: “The red was impeccable — that shade against the Croisette backdrop was genuinely memorable. But the cutout panel construction and the grommet detailing on the skirt introduced too much noise. The dress couldn’t decide what it wanted to be, and that confusion transferred to the overall look.” Outfit: 2/5 | Accessories: 5/5 | Hair & Make-up: 4/5
The Debated: Looks That Divided the Panel#
Cannes always produces at least one look that fractures any room of editors. This year, that honour went to an actress the panel collectivelyadores — which made the disagreement sharper, not easier.
Julianne Moore in Armani Privé#
Julianne Moore in Armani Privé at the Cannes Film Festival. Image courtesy of L’Oréal Paris.
Julianne Moore arrived at Cannes wearing Armani Privé — which should have been a safe harbour of understated Italian elegance. The base elements were promising: a classic black palette, feather and pearl embellishment, a clean skirt line. But the execution at the top half introduced a hybrid jacket-bodice combination that none of us could quite agree on, and the Chopard jewellery choices — undeniably beautiful pieces in isolation — felt overwhelming rather than complementary against an already busy upper body.
This was the one look where the panel came apart entirely.
Caroline: “You cannot go wrong with black and feathers at Cannes. Tres chic. The hair was pulled back with total confidence, and it rightly let the dress lead. The Chopard pieces were extraordinary. For me, this was a near-perfect red carpet execution.” Outfit: 4/5 | Accessories: 5/5 | Hair & Make-up: 5/5
Elisabeth: “I understand I’m in the minority here, and I’m comfortable with that. The upper section — the jacket-into-bodice construction — is too heavy and too complex. It reads matronly rather than grand, and the scale of the Chopard jewellery competes with everything else happening above the waist. The whole look is overpowering in a way that doesn’t serve her.” Outfit: 1/5 | Accessories: 1/5 | Hair & Make-up: 3/5
Lana: “We all love Julianne Moore, which is precisely why this Armani Privé ensemble is a mild disappointment rather than a disaster. The lower half is genuinely beautiful. But the neckline and that cluttered top section undermine the strength of everything else. It needed editing — a braver conversation with the atelier, perhaps.” Outfit: 3/5 | Accessories: 4/5 | Hair & Make-up: 3.5/5
The range here — from 1 to 4 on the outfit score alone — tells you everything about what makes Cannes fashion worth debating. There are no objective answers, only informed opinions. What Elisabeth reads as overwrought, Caroline reads as appropriately grand. The dress didn’t fail because it was poorly made. It divided because it was genuinely ambitious.
The Accessories Verdict: Bags, Jewels and Shoes Under Scrutiny#
A red carpet look lives or dies by its accessories, and this year’s Cannes confirmed that truth more than once. The panel paid particular attention to three standout accessory moments — two of them cautionary, one of them close to exemplary.
The Zebra Clutch (Naomi Watts): The single most divisive accessory of the evening. Against the delicate pearl and featherwork of Elie Saab couture, the bold graphic print of Watts’ clutch read as a styling non sequitur. Both Caroline and Elisabeth flagged it independently, which tells you it wasn’t a matter of personal taste — it was an objective mismatch in register. The lesson here is one we return to often in our guides to evening bag styling: when the gown is embellished, the clutch should defer. A plain satin or beaded minaudière would have been near-invisible in the right way.
The Chopard Jewellery (Julianne Moore): High-value pieces that suffered from context. Chopard’s craftsmanship is beyond question, and these pieces would have been spectacular against a simpler, cleaner gown. Worn over the complex upper section of the Armani Privé, they added to the visual noise rather than anchoring it. This is a recurring challenge with statement jewellery on couture — the jewel and the gown need to negotiate, not compete.
Karlie Kloss’s Minimalist Approach: The panel was split on whether she needed a bangle rather than a ring, but everyone agreed that her restraint — letting the Atelier Versace cutwork carry the visual weight — was the right strategic call. On a shimmering metallic jumpsuit, the temptation to layer up is understandable; the discipline to hold back is what separated this look from the overstyled alternatives on the same carpet.
The Proenza Schouler Accessories (Liya Kebede): Interestingly, the most consistent scores across the panel for accessories went to Kebede, despite near-universal criticism of her gown. Her jewellery was well-chosen — clean, modern, appropriately scaled — and Lana awarded a rare 5. This is worth noting: accessorising with restraint and judgment when the dress is already making a loud statement is an underrated skill.
For those building a personal red carpet jewellery wardrobe or sourcing pre-owned designer clutches, the takeaway from this year’s Cannes is consistent: know when to support the outfit and when to step back entirely.
Panel Picks: Our Overall Cannes Best Dressed#
When the scores are tallied and the arguments have run their course, the panel’s verdict is clear — though not unanimous on every position.
🥇 Naomi Watts in Elie Saab Spring 2015 Couture The highest aggregate scores of the evening, a near-faultless gown choice, and the kind of composed, considered presence that Cannes demands. The accessory misstep with the clutch kept this from a clean sweep, and the overloaded jewellery was a recurring panel complaint. But the gown itself? Flawless. Watts has turned the Croisette into something of a personal runway, and this year she delivered again. Best Dressed, by consensus. Average scores — Outfit: 4.7| Accessories: 3.2 | Hair & Make-up: 4.3
🥈 Karlie Kloss in Atelier Versace Fall 2014 The boldest successful gamble of the week. The Atelier Versace jumpsuit was a risk in a field of gowns, and Kloss wore it as though there had never been any doubt. Minor disagreements about shoe colour and jewellery choice aside, the panel recognised a look executed with real confidence. Runner-up, with acknowledgement of the ambition. Average scores — Outfit: 4.0 | Accessories: 3.7 | Hair & Make-up: 3.7
Most Improved with Minor Edits: Julianne Moore’s Armani Privé. The bones of this look were genuinely beautiful — and that’s precisely what makes the styling missteps in the upper half so frustrating. Remove the jacket element, simplify the top, reconsider the jewellery scale, and this would have been a contender. As presented: memorable but conflicted.
Biggest Missed Opportunity: Liya Kebede in Proenza Schouler. The colour was extraordinary and her accessories were surprisingly well-judged. But the gown’s construction undermined both, and no amount of jewellery could redirect attention from an outfit that appeared to be at war with itself.
Cannes 2015 reminded us why this festival matters to fashion as much as to film: the stakes are high, the platform is global, and the difference between a definitive red carpet moment and a styling near-miss can come down to a single clutch, a single construction decision, a single piece of jewellery that tips the balance. We will be back on the Croisette. The carpet will be just as unforgiving.
Shop The Luxury Closet’s Cannes Film Festival Edit — designer gowns, fine jewellery, and luxury accessories from the world’s most covetable houses.
All images courtesy of L’Oréal Paris.
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