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.
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.
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.
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.