India’s largest-ever female line-up turned the 78th Cannes Film Festival into a rolling fashion master-class. From painstaking hand-loom to unabashed bling, here’s a concise look-book of the eight stars who mattered.
Alia Bhatt
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Debut day: an ivory-nude, corseted Schiaparelli mermaid gown.
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Lights On Women gala: Bejewelled navy column by Armani Privé, finished with a 1920s bead-cap.
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Closing ceremony: Gucci’s first bespoke GG-monogram sari-inspired three-piece; Bhatt dressed by phone-torch after a hotel power cut yet still dominated feeds.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
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Day 1: Hand-woven ivory Banarasi sari-cape from Manish Malhotra, anchored by a 500-carat ruby-and-diamond necklace.
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Day 2: Gaurav Gupta’s sculpted black velvet “Heiress of a Clam” gown with galactic bead-work—a dramatic pivot from tradition to futurism.
Aditi Rao Hydari
Arrived in Rahul Mishra’s “Celestial Aura” ombré gown—2,600 hours of hand-embroidered beads fading from midnight black to liquid silver—paired with a simple Chopard rivière to keep the spotlight on the craftsmanship.
Janhvi Kapoor
The Homebound lead made her first Cannes walk in a blush-pink tissue skirt-and-corset hand-loomed in Varanasi by Tarun Tahiliani, styled by Rhea Kapoor; later switched to a mint backless lehenga-gown and a vintage YSL jacket for amfAR.
Nitanshi Goel
At 17, the Laapataa Ladies breakout balanced couture polish with youthful ease: a custom black-and-gold JADE gown featuring kasab embroidery and macramé, plus a second Barbie-pink beaded mini dress by Papa Don’t Preach that went viral.
Sobhita Dhulipala
Skipped the main premieres but stole fashion-insider praise in a sheer black Rahul Mishra sari-gown embroidered with celestial maps and zardozi peacocks—an ode to Indian artisanship rendered as haute couture.
Urvashi Rautela
Booked headlines—and memes—with two excess-is-success moments: a parrot-green Michael Cinco gown and Judith Leiber crystal parrot clutch, followed by a gold fishtail dress flaunting a ₹5.29-lakh diamond “bikini” mini-bag.
Jacqueline Fernandez
One of the Red Sea Film Foundation’s “Women in Cinema” honourees, she kept it classic in a sequinned white cape-column for the luncheon, then a scarlet corset gown that channelled old-Hollywood glamour.
From Alia’s history-making Gucci drape to Urvashi’s talking-point clutch, the 2025 edition proved that India’s women can command every style register on the Croisette—and do it on their own terms.
