Bella Hadid made her red carpet return at Cannes Film Festival earlier this week, but if you thought her custom Saint Laurent pantyhose look was good, you need to see what she’s been hanging out off-duty wearing. The supermodel was photographed out and about in the bougie French city in a red and white strapless dress which looked like it had been fashioned from a Palestinian Keffiyeh.
Hadid, who is half-Palestinian on her father’s side, has long shown her support for the state of Palestine across her social media channels – who could forget the (potentially) Donatella Versace-approved post she shared featuring a heart-shaped candy plastered with the message ‘Will you free my Palestine?’ in 2022? She has also put her money where her mouth is on numerous occasions to join IRL marches for Palestine and the people of Gaza while wearing more traditional versions of the Keffiyeh.
Though Hadid opted for high fashion on the red carpet, she knows her every move is being scrutinised by the paparazzi after she has been absent from the public for months – so why wouldn’t she use that focus to make a stand for the cause? Much like the Met Gala, the Cannes red carpet has been disappointingly almost devoid of support for the situation unravelling in Gaza and spreading out through Palestine. The dress itself is a 2001 archive piece by Michael and Hushi.
On Monday [May 20], Cate Blanchett stepped out in what initially appeared to be a simple black strapless column dress – a custom look created by Jean Paul Gaultier for the movie icon. As Blanchett made her way down the carpet, however, she held a cascading panel from the gown out in her hand, revealing a jewel green lining. Online, people speculated that the actor was acknowledging and showing her own support to the region, with the red of the carpet and the green and black of the dress coming together to make up the colour palette of the Palestinian flag.
Though a number of people at the 2024 Oscars and Grammys opted to wear lapel pins that called for a ceasefire in Gaza, recent events, like the Met Gala and Cannes, have seen celebrities shun any signifiers that might show their support for the people of Gaza. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a movement is spreading online, in which stars who do not speak out are being blocked by former followers and fans. Read more on that here.
Revisit her Heaven campaign in the gallery above.