Every year, the Cannes Film Festival’s red carpet plays host to a parade of glamorous gowns and epic, one-of-a-kind couture seemingly plucked from the very heavens above. In a male-dominated world, it is one of the few events that very much revolve around the leading ladies. Men in their sleek black tuxedos are merely backdrops to the lovely ladies in their resplendent finery (sorry to break it to you, dudes).
That being said, this year’s Cannes menswear moments have not been a total snoozefest—in fact, quite the contrary, much to our surprise and delight. This past week, the photo calls and red carpets in France have delivered plenty of unexpectedly fun and—dare we say it?—adventurous men’s styling choices that are not to be missed and close to rivaling their female counterparts. Think: Killer suits, a few cheeky slogan tees (see: Jordan Firstman’s “I boofed at Cannes and all I got was this lousy shirt”), and some very low-buttoned shirts exposing some seriously chiseled chests (ahem, Alton Mason, ahem).
It’s almost as though Hollywood gents have woken up to the fact that, yes, they too can bring personality to the Cannes carpet this year. Sure, the festival has historically been a very formal and buttoned-up affair—with a strict dress code to match!—but in recent years, the step and repeats have loosened up, allowing attendees to bring a little more flair and personality to the mix. That has certainly been the case amongst the menfolk this week, too: They’ve all been combining classic tailoring with unexpected finishes, the result of which is that their outfits feel just a the right amount of fresh and relevant.
Take actor Miles Teller, who attended his Paper Tiger photo call wearing a fresh Zegna knit polo-top and trousers set. That pea soup-colored hue? Unlikely—and very chic. For Diego Calva’s Club Kid photo call, the Mexican actor chose Isabel Marant’s charcoal shirt tucked into pleated trousers—resulting in the perfect mix of slouchy yet polished. These are not your standard (i.e., boring) suits: There were clear and successful attempts at switching things up and modernizing silhouettes.
