Isabelle Huppert Has Long Been The Coolest Septuagenarian At Cannes
As one of the undisputed greats of French cinema, it’s no surprise that Isabelle Huppert has been a Cannes regular since the earliest years of her career – there she is gliding down the Croisette in the 1970s, in crushed velvet shirts and ruffled lace. But, what’s even more irresistible is the new era of festival style she entered when she turned 70. Over her decades on the Riviera, the actor had relied on a formula of louche suiting by day and gilded glamour by night, but a few years ago, the dial seemed to shift towards something altogether more daring: variations on naked dressing, retina-searing hues and a subversive testing of the boundaries of Cannes’ red-carpet regulations (gowns resembling bathrobes, heels in the shape of bare feet).
Naturally, this has much to do with the fact that Huppert became a Balenciaga brand ambassador in 2023 – almost all of her recent Cannes showstoppers have been courtesy of the storied house – but it also speaks to her own renegade spirit. (Let’s not forget that Balenciaga produces more straight-forward ballgowns, too.) Far from fading into the background in your 70s, she’s evidence that it can be your most fearless, headline-grabbing decade yet.
As Huppert, now 73, returns to Cannes for the premiere of her latest film, Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales – and prepares to take the festival by storm yet again – we take a look back at her greatest red-carpet hits to date.
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Aged 70, Isabelle Huppert arrived at the Cannes premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon in a black Balenciaga lace gown, paired with the label’s nude Anatomic heels, moulded to resemble a naked foot – proof that she’s as much of a risk-taker on the red carpet as she is on screen.
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Off-duty in a leather jacket and chunky trainers.
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The following year, she returned to the festival, in floor-length, skin-tight black Balenciaga leather, to attend Kering’s Women in Motion Awards.
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Who else but Huppert could pull off a bathrobe on the Cannes red carpet? For the premiere of Horizon: An American Saga, the 71-year-old chose custom Balenciaga – a textured white wrap dress with a thigh-high slit. Paired with nude, almost invisible heels, diamonds and dark sunglasses, it projected movie star glamour.
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Leaving the Hôtel Martinez in a low-cut slip, blazer and stilettos.
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Back at the Kering Women in Motion Awards, aged 72, in more straight-off-the-runway Balenciaga, topped off with diamonds and her signature sunglasses.
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At the premiere of her latest film, The Richest Woman in the World, Huppert looked every inch the part, in highlighter-hued, fringe-lined Balenciaga. In a sea of black, all eyes were on her.
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For her photocall the following morning, the star looked as cool as ever in Balenciaga double denim.
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Effortlessly chic in a more classic ensemble at the Chopard dinner.
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For the premiere of Highest 2 Lowest, Huppert went all-out yet again, in a backwards denim dress from Balenciaga, with deconstructed detailing at the back and a giant emerald brooch at the front. Accessorised with stilettos, black nails, sunglasses and gently mussed hair, this is IDGAF dressing at its finest – Cannes’ strict red-carpet rules be damned.
