If the Met Gala is the all-star showcase of crimson carpet entrances, the Oscars the abilities championship, and the MTV Video Music Awards the X Video games, then the Cannes Movie Competition is successfully the playoffs: an prolonged interval during which celebrities present up a number of instances in garments excessive and low, demonstrating all their strikes.

And although outfits appear to be getting more and more excessive with the proliferation of social media, a glance again by way of the historical past of the pageant’s runway (oops, crimson carpet) — which this 12 months runs Could 16-27 — reveals that it was, actually, ever thus.

The Croisette boulevard has at all times been a catwalk and we, the rapt viewers trying on.

1957

Elizabeth Taylor

When she attended Cannes on the arm of her third husband, the producer Mike Todd (who was there to advertise “Across the World in 80 Days”), Ms. Taylor was Hollywood royalty, and he or she dressed the half — from the tip of her diamond Cartier tiara to the hem of her white Balmain robe and the fingertips of her opera gloves. The princess gown would ceaselessly after be a pageant staple (not least on Princesses Grace and Diana once they would take their very own Cannes bows).

1966

Catherine Deneuve

Ms. Deneuve attended Cannes along with her then-husband, the photographer David Bailey, in a protracted seaside-striped sequin Yves Saint Laurent T-shirt gown. She was a de facto YSL ambassador earlier than that time period had even entered the style playbook (again then, the standard appellation was “muse”). She would stay one for many years, loyally sporting YSL onscreen and off. In relation to informal glamour, nonetheless, this gown set the tone, proving the idea was not an oxymoron, however an entire potential style unto itself.

1974

Jane Birkin

Ms. Birkin popped up at Cannes along with her beau, Serge Gainsbourg, and a picnic basket as a purse, toting it not simply throughout the day, however on the crimson carpet with a glimmering frock. Reportedly found in a fishing village in Portugal, it was the Birkin bag earlier than the Birkin bag. It grew to become a logo of the British star and of a sure je ne sais quoi in boho type and the freewheeling nature of Cannes.

1991

Madonna

She got here to Cannes to unveil “Madonna: Fact or Dare” — and herself. A long time earlier than Woman Gaga stripped right down to her undergarments on the Met Gala steps, Madonna walked the carpet for her premiere in a voluminous pink taffeta coat by Jean Paul Gaultier — solely to drop it on the final second to disclose a white satin cone bra, knickers and a garter belt set. She jolted the general public out of their torpor and began a brand new period of peekaboo dressing.

1995

Sharon Stone

In 2002 Ms. Stone got here to Cannes as a member of the movie pageant jury and revived her flagging profile by strolling the crimson carpet in a distinct trend assertion each night time. However years earlier than that, she made dressing noise when she arrived on the premiere of “Unzipped” in a champagne-colored satin skirt that was, effectively, unbuttoned to disclose a bedazzled romper beneath. Ever since, shorts have been a pageant staple.

1998

Kate Moss

Minimalism got here to the Croisette courtesy of Ms. Moss, attending the premiere of “Concern and Loathing in Las Vegas” along with her then-boyfriend, Johnny Depp. Ms. Moss wore a black cocktail gown with ostrich feathers on the prime and virtually no make-up with merely a contact of diamonds and barely-there sandals. She made everybody else look overdone and overdressed, washing the Augean stables of Cannes clear.

2007

Tilda Swinton

Ms. Swinton strode the carpet in a metallic pantsuit, proving {that a} girl doesn’t want a giant gown to make a giant assertion.

2008

Linda Evangelista

Ms. Evangelista posed like a gold Greek statuette in Lanvin on the premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Cranium.” Fashions had grow to be key elements of the pageant’s opening night combine, upping the style ante even additional.

2015

Lupita Nyong’o

Ms. Nyong’o appeared to embody springtime itself in a inexperienced pleated Gucci chiffon gown accented with crystal flowers. It was just a few months after Alessandro Michele had taken over as artistic director of the Italian home, and the gown heralded the arrival of a brand new aesthetic and Hollywood love affair with Gucci.

2016

Amal Clooney

Ms. Clooney made her Cannes debut in a basic butter yellow Atelier Versace gown with a excessive slit on one leg, solely overshadowing her husband, George, on the premiere of his movie, “Cash Monster,” and, as soon as once more, proving type and substance will not be antithetical ideas.

2017

Rihanna

She made her first Cannes look on the “Okja” premiere in an ivory Dior couture robe with a protracted matching coat and New Wave-style sun shades. Two years later, Dior proprietor LVMH would announce a take care of the artist for her personal trend line, and although it was shut down throughout the pandemic, her potential to channel cool has by no means wavered.

2018

Kristen Stewart

Ms. Stewart’s quick chain mail Chanel gown was a combating mixture of armor and crystals, however what actually made information was her determination to doff her Christian Louboutin stilettos and stroll up the steps barefoot. Coming a 12 months after the actor complained in regards to the pageant’s unstated excessive heels gown code, it was an unmistakable trend throw down and, effectively, a step ahead for wardrobe fairness.

2021

Isabelle Huppert

The French actress made the last word elegant refusal of Cannes conference in a high-necked, long-sleeved all-black Balenciaga robe, matching boot leggings and matching shades. It lower by way of the carpet froth and extra like a knife.

2021

Spike Lee

The only man on this trendsetting record, Mr. Lee put ye olde penguin fits to disgrace as jury president, eschewing the standard tuxedo or white dinner jacket for a bouquet of sunset-toned suiting, by Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton. He did the appropriate factor.

2022

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Generally, it looks as if the huge open skies of the Côte d’Azur encourage even wider skirts on the Cannes carpet, however Ms. Bachchan topped all of them in a fantastical creation from Gaurav Gupta that made her appear to be some kind of alien smoke goddess materializing on Earth. Generally, it actually does seem to be the seems at Cannes are out of this world.