Cannes 2021 red carpet fashion: highlights from the two-week festival

With so few red carpets to walk this past year, stars, celebs and the world's sharpest-elbowed influencers piled on to the "tapis rouge" at the Cannes Film Festival.

Not even the absence of Lea Seydoux – sidelined by a case of Covid-19 – could dim the glamour.

The closing ceremony was no exception.

Take a look through the photo gallery above to see more from the stars' final festival foray.

Here are some of the most unforgettable looks of the fortnight:

Fine pair of lungs

Bella Hadid took the breath away with her Schiaparelli "lungs" dress, the bust replaced by two sculpted gold bronchial branches.

True to his reputation as couture's most daring designer, Daniel Roseberry said he wanted to celebrate the lungs as Europe breathes again after Covid.

Some worried the Palestinian-Dutch model would catch her death in it, though.

To their less enlightened eyes, Hadid's lungs looked as if they had been turned inside out and dipped in gold.

She also went all out in a Jean Paul Gaultier black scarf bodice.

Take a look through the photo gallery below to see more Arab celebrities and looks from Arab designers that made it to the Cannes red carpet this year:

Spike really has it

While some might question whether Spike Lee, who heads the Cannes jury, had done the right thing by putting festival postcards up for sale on his site for $100, no one could doubt his style even as he sported Nikes emblazoned with his own face.

At 63, he still has it, attracting every camera on the Croisette with a fuchsia Louis Vuitton zoot suit and matching sunglasses.

Hat tip too at his berets for every occasion – from Black Panther to Bastille Day French tricolour to Jean-Paul Sartre chin-stroker.

Tilda's just a darling

While Bella and Spike did sass, Tilda Swinton does class like no other. She was ubiquitous at Cannes, appearing in five films and bringing her white duke androgynous cool to some wonderful "clothes that my friends made for me", as she put it.

Jonathan Anderson of Loewe created a white apostolic robe for her Memoria press conference, adorned with feathers in the colours of Colombia, where the movie was shot.

Ten minutes, 400 metres and a costume change later, Swinton was accepting the Palm Dog Award for bBest Canine Performance at Cannes on behalf of her spaniels.

As the red collar was fastened around her neck, knees of every gender and none wobbled.

Her dogs feature alongside her and her daughter Honor in the two acclaimed The Souvenir films by British director Joanna Hogg.

Honor even raided her mum's wardrobe for vintage pieces for the film.

Take a look through the photo gallery below to see more from 'The French Dispatch' premiere:

Tears from Stone

Sharon Stone cried a river at Cannes. And we can't say we blame her. The famously brainy star of Basic Instinct was given one of France's highest cultural honours at the festival.

She famously attended the premiere of The Story of My Wife in a bucolic Dolce & Gabbana creation. The off-shoulder gown, which trailed reams of sky blue tulle, was adorned with exaggerated applique blooms, giving her the appearance of a Disney princess who stepped off-screen.

"This is what dreams are made of," Stone, 63, captioned a shot of herself on the red carpet, which she posted to Instagram.

Take a look through the photo gallery below for more of Stone and others on day nine of the festival:

Grey power

Notting Hill actress Andie MacDowell may no longer be big box office material but she proved that older stars still shine by showing off her lockdown grey hair.

The American stole much of the opening night attention with her glorious mane.

As the trending #SilverSisters hashtag proved, she looked amazing.