Halle Berry made headlines at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival when she swapped her original dress due to the updated dress code. The actress revealed that she had to scrap her original look.
Halle Berry addresses Cannes’ new rules
At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Halle Berry had to unexpectedly change her dress due to the newly updated dress code rules. Originally planning to wear a grand gown by designer Gupta, Berry was forced to switch to a black-and-white striped halter dress after learning that the festival had introduced stricter regulations.
Berry explained, “I had an amazing dress by Gupta that I cannot wear tonight because it’s too big of a train. I’m not going to break the rules.” While commenting on the dress code, she also expressed, “The nudity part is also probably a good rule.” (via New York Post)
Berry is currently a member of the Cannes competition jury for 2025, which also includes notable figures such as Jeremy Strong, South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, Alba Rohrwacher, director Payal Kapadia, Leïla Slimani, Dieudo Hamadi, and Carlos Reygadas. Juliette Binoche serves as the jury president.
Recently, the Cannes Film Festival implemented updated dress rules. As part of the new policy, the festival officially banned nudity and excessive volume in clothing, especially garments with large trains that could restrict movement.
A statement from the festival clarified, “For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival. Voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train, that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theater are not permitted.”
The dress code changes seem to come in response to recent controversies such as Bianca Censori’s 2025 Grammy Awards or topless protester in 2022. However, Cannes organizers have not stated any specific incident or celebrity that caused the change.
