Venice Film Festival 2026: 10 stars who rewrote the red carpet’s black-tie rules

As the evening’s honouree, George Clooney kept his rule-breaking subtle—proof that restraint is its own subversion. His single-breasted Giorgio Armani tuxedo, cut in fine black wool with silk-satin peak lapels, needed no reinvention. Decades into their sartorial alliance, the house dressed him with a precision that made every louder look on the carpet look briefly negotiable.

Fronting Danny Boyle’s Ink as its female lead, Claire Foy chose the carpet’s boldest colour break. Matthieu Blazy’s crimson satin column gown twisted into a hip-level knot, but it was the matching elbow-length leather opera gloves—rather than classic satin—that gave the look its unexpected friction.

As an Armani fragrance ambassador, Jonathan Bailey traded slim tailoring for volume. His double-breasted midnight tuxedo jacket was left unbuttoned over high-waisted, barrel-leg trousers, while a long velvet scarf complemented his velvet bow tie—introducing drape and movement into a silhouette usually built for stillness.

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Presiding over the Main Competition Jury, Maggie Gyllenhaal matched authority with ease. Her matte black Celine gown was shaped by a gathered silk-satin twist draping across the décolletage. The real statement, though, was underfoot: pointed-toe leather slingback flats, a quietly radical choice on a carpet built for heels.

Representing Emporio Armani, Nicholas Galitzine abandoned the dinner jacket altogether. An oversized bib-front evening shirt was fastened at the throat with a brooch instead of a tie, paired with wide-legged, deep-pleated trousers—formalwear stripped down to its structural essentials.

Pulling from Armani’s Fall/Winter 2024 archive, Chase Sui Wonders wore a black jersey column gown with asymmetric mesh cutouts banded in jet beading. A Tiffany & Co velvet choker set with a pink sapphire and a razor-cut pixie crop pushed the look toward something darker and more graphic than typical gala glamour.

Nina Dobrev’s strapless Armani Privé gown was tiled entirely in black sequins, sheer illusion tulle appearing at the bottom—but the disruption came from the hips, where sweeping chartreuse chiffon panels trailed into a train as she walked the Venice Film Festival 2026 red carpet.

As muse for the Italian lingerie house, Alessandra Ambrosio built her gown around corsetry mechanics—a boned satin bustier with visible structure, cinched by a wide cummerbund into a ruched skirt, folding underpinnings usually left unseen into the finished silhouette.

Delivering the laudatio before Clooney received his Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival 2026, Laura Dern was one of the red carpet’s colour statements. Her Prada gown revived 1950s proportions—scoop neckline, cap sleeves, a full circular midi-skirt—cutting cleanly against the night’s otherwise disciplined black, and proving pastel can still command a monochrome room.

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