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Elsa Hosk wears Viktor & Rolf to the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Image via Instagram.com/ElsaHosk

No need to adjust your set, Elsa Hosk’s protruding mille feuille tulle gown from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival isn’t a glitch.

While it could seem to the untrained eye that the 34-year-old model and clothing designer may have suffered an unceremonious clothing malfunction, this powder-blue askew dress is rather a power move on Hosk’s part.

The gown, which features two pastel green bows, noticeably diagonally juxtaposes away from the body, revealing a sculpted nude bodice underneath.

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CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 24: Elsa Hosk attends the “La Passion De Dodin Bouffant” red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 24, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)

It’s nowhere as sheer as the barely-there Gucci slip her fellow Victoria’s Secret model Irina Shayk wore earlier in the week, but the subversive nearly-naked gown is a mischievous take which subverts Cannes’ notoriously rigid dress codes.

The Viktor & Rolf creation is indeed selling us a fantasy; but which would take home the Palme d’Or?

Did Hosk have a Cinderella moment, with this red carpet ensemble embodying the Fairy Godmother created ball gown melting back into tattered rags after midnight?

Or, is the dress a poignant act of rebellion, highlighting the culture of Cannes encouraging women to dress in the height of luxury and glamour—a culture we’re certainly not opposed to.

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Elsa Hosk via Instagram.com/ElsaHosk

The gown debuted on the runway during the Spring/Summer 2023 Haute Couture season, unveiled in Paris earlier in 2023.

The collection, entitled ‘Late Stage Capitalism Waltz’ offered a surrealist take on the stereotypical ball gown custom, thus serving as a provocation for traditionalists who view these classic silhouettes as the pinnacle of beauty.

While unconventional, this multi-dimensional gown is elegant in every way, bringing a much-needed touch of frivolity to an event of such gravitas.

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PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 25 : A model walks the runway during the Viktor & Rolf Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show as part of the Paris Haute Couture Week on January 25, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

As fashion fanatics observed, this is the first time a gown from Viktor & Rolf’s SS23 collection has appeared on the runway, a pertinent first-outing for a collection that was equally revered as it was highly-memed. In fact, we’d argue this dress is a masterclass on how to balance the virality of dressing with the reverence of fashion.

The Croisette better prepare itself for next year, we’re predicting an over-saturation of off-the-body gowns.