Zoe Saldana fans looking for a single Cannes style narrative got something sharper: Vanity Fair published a 19-name best-dressed list for the 2026 Cannes Film Festival that, it said, showed an abundance of fashion but not enough style—singling out Chloé Zhao as the festival’s standout.
Vanity Fair’s roundup put numbers and names behind its verdict. The magazine named 19 best-dressed stars and singled out Zhao’s appearance—described as a Schiaparelli couture look with the spikey appearance of a pufferfish—as the pinnacle moment. Designer Daniel Roseberry even nicknamed the look Isabella Blowish, a tag Vanity Fair carried forward in its write-up.
The list mixes old-guard and new-statement dressing. Kristen Stewart turned up twice in Vanity Fair’s notes: once in a Matthieu Blazy debut couture look for a photocall and again in a black-and-red beaded dress paired with black Chuck Taylors on an evening red carpet. Barbara Palvin Sprouse’s festival wardrobe also made the pages, from an ethereal Miu Miu frock that revealed a pregnancy to a matching Karl Lagerfeld tuxedo look featuring a tuxedo shirt, black skirt, and silk cummerbund.
Vanity Fair flagged several other distinct choices: Alexa Chung and Tom Sturridge in his-and-hers Anderson’s Dior dressing, Charlotte Le Bon in a men’s Dior tuxedo on the red carpet, Bella Hadid in a custom Prada gown, Ruth Negga in a white Celine tank dress, Taylor Russell in a black pleated Schiaparelli outfit and Cate Blanchett in Sarah Burton’s Givenchy. Demi Moore was again listed among the stalwarts Vanity Fair highlighted.
The magazine’s omissions were as pointed as its inclusions. Vanity Fair said not a single amfAR Gala attendee made its best-dressed list at the 79th Cannes Film Festival festivities—a critique that underlines its claim that the festival offered plenty of looks but fewer sustained statements of style.
That framing echoes the wider red-carpet coverage: an article the week of the festival described Cannes’ schedule as “crazy,” noting standout looks from Sharon Stone, Demi Moore and Cate Blanchett as the 12 days of nonstop premieres and red carpet events rolled through the Riviera. The festival itself ran as a 12-day surge of premiers and appearances, with the press circuit wrapping up after those dozen days.
Specific festival moments are recorded in the timeline Vanity Fair and other outlets followed: Joan Collins at the opening ceremony and the premiere of The Electric Kiss on May 12, Demi Moore and Cate Blanchett at the Paper Tiger premiere on May 16, Colman Domingo at the Garance premiere on May 17 and Sharon Stone at the Diamond premiere on May 19. noted the pace again on May 20 and then reported the festival was coming to an end after 12 days on May 22.
The tension in Vanity Fair’s account is sharp: Cannes produced a flood of garments—tuxedos, couture gowns, custom Prada—yet the magazine judged many looks as momentary spectacle rather than coherent style. By excluding amfAR Gala attendees entirely from its best-dressed list, Vanity Fair foregrounded a preference for singular, couture-driven statements over gala excess.
That verdict matters because it reorders what gets remembered from Cannes 2026. The magazine elevated Chloé Zhao’s Schiaparelli moment to the festival’s defining image, rewarded subversive pairings like Stewart’s sneakers with beading and flagged quieter choices from veteran names like Blanchett and Moore. The clear conclusion: this Cannes didn’t crown gala glamour but instead celebrated specific, sometimes unexpected couture declarations.
