The 68th Cannes Film Festival was kicked off in spectacular style, with the likes of Julianne Moore and Naomi Watts leading the fashion on the red carpet on the first night, alongside Sienna Miller and Natalie Portman.
The Hollywood beauties looked sensational in their deep plunging gowns as they showed up for the premiere of La Tete Haute (Standing Tall) and the opening ceremony held at the Grand Theatre Lumiere, Palais des Festivals on Wednesday evening.
Oscar-winner Julianne, 54, cut a particularly glamorous figure in her racy but classy black Armani Privé gown, complete with over-the-top embellishments on the shoulders in a netted sequin-type wrapover giving a feathered effect, before officially declaring the festival open for the year.
The Still Alice star, who is at the film festival in her role as a L’Oreal Paris ambassador, wore her famous red locks up in a side parting and opted for dramatic smokey eye make-up for the occasion, adding a touch of colour with dangling emerald earrings.
However, also giving some serious sartorial showing on the debut night of Cannes was Naomi, who looked flawless in a ballgown to rival any other. The bodice of the youthful 46-year-old’s silver-grey Elie Saab dress was, like Julianne’s, incredibly low-cut, revealing a subtle and tasteful amount of her cleavage.
And also like Julianne’s ensemble, it was glistening with a smattering of gorgeous embellishments, glittering in the nightfall on the French Riviera town.
However, it was the full feather-covered skirt – with added pockets for nonchalance – that really added to the drama of the Australian actress’ incredible red carpet look. As she turned to all angles to face the hundreds of photographers on the prestigious red carpet, the star revealed her dress to be backless.
Elsewhere, keeping it more low-key but no less stunning was Natalie Portman, who wore a column-shaped strapless red gown by Dior Couture.
The bust of the classic garment was cut in a sweetheart style, the body of the dress clinging to her slight curves before falling straight down.
Natalie is making her directorial debut with her movie A Tale Of Love And Darkness, an Israeli drama that will get a showing during the festival.
And Sienna Miller followed suit in a primary colour dress: the member of the Cannes jury rocked the perfect black tie attire in a midnight blue one-shouldered gown by Lanvin.
With a style similar to Naomi’s, the 33-year-old British actress wore her blonde mane in a pushed-back style with a lift at the roots, but added a dash of colour with a scarlet red lipstick.
Looking particularly dapper was Sienna’s fellow judge Jake Gyllenhaal, working a black tuxedo.
The two appear to have struck up quite the rapport: as well as giggling away at the official juror’s photo call on Wednesday afternoon, they showed off their friendship status at the opening ceremony too, chatting away among the others.
The A-list were out in force for the premiere of La Tete Haute on Wednesday – the movie centres on a young delinquent as he comes of age. Starring Catherine Deneuve and Benoît Magimel, the film is slated for release on Thursday after its showing at Cannes.
Elsewhere, models traded the catwalk for the red carpet, as the likes of Doutzen Kroes, Karlie Kloss, Liya Kebede and Bar Refaeli attended the opening ceremony.
If there was a prize on the night for the most colourful look, that would go to Noemié Lenoir.
The French model and actress, currently pregnant with her second child, showed off her prominent baby bump as she arrived on the coastal resort’s Croisette shortly after proceedings got underway.
Also arriving were the actors and those who worked on the movie of the night, La Tete Haute (Standing Tall), including leading actress Catherine Deneuve, the film’s director Emmanuelle Bercot, stars Sara Forestier, Rod Paradot and Benoit Magimel, as well as French Minister of Culture and Communication Fleur Pellerin.
