As a celebrity, you have the world at your fingertips, especially when it comes to fashion. Archive Jean Paul Gaultier, Tom Ford’s Gucci, Alexander McQueen - you name it, the red carpet is your oyster. But if there’s one thing Cate Blanchett knows, it's that a great outfit deserves more than one moment in the spotlight.
Stepping out on the opening day of the Venice Film Festival 2025 for the premiere of Paolo Sorrentino’s new film, La Grazia, the Oscar-winning actor revisited a look from her own archives: a sleek black gown from Armani Privé that she first wore to the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2022. This time, she kept her styling unfussy - tousled hair, pared-back glam and let the dress do all the talking.
Cate’s no stranger to rewearing, and neither is her longtime stylist Elizabeth Stewart (@elizabethstewart1). Earlier this year at the Golden Globe Awards, Cate Blanchett donned in the same gold number as she did eight months earlier at the Cannes Film Festival.
In fact, she’s been doing it for years. Stewart has turned Blanchett’s penchant for outfit repetition into a powerful statement. Back in 2022, she posted about Cate revisting an Alexander McQueen dress from Venice 2020 to an event in Los Angeles, explaining why their choice goes beyond fashion.
‘We understand that most people re-wear clothes all the time, and how great this is for the environment (keeping clothes out of landfills etc.),’ Stewart wrote. ‘However, on the red carpet, fashion is about being exciting, making a splash, and pushing our industry forward… So let me explain an additional reason the re-wear above is meaningful to us and can have more impact.’
Said reason? The staggering environmental cost of fittings. ‘Since fashion is international, a typical fitting can have looks from Paris, London, Milan, New York, Los Angeles, Lebanon, Japan, Berlin, Stockholm, Dubai… it takes planes, trains, and automobiles for almost any look and all the environmental impact and carbon footprint that entails,’ she revealed. ‘So… if we can avoid most of that by simply re-wearing an incredibly great look (like the whole rest of the world does every day) and therefore do just one more small part to protect our planet and our future, well then, we are going to do it dammit!’
For Blanchett and Stewart, repeating outfits isn’t just about personal style - it’s a deliberate stance on sustainability. And in an industry where ‘newness’ is often seen as the ultimate currency, Cate Blanchett is proving that wearing something twice can be just as powerful as debuting it for the first time.
Renee Washington, Grazia's digital fashion and beauty writer, lives online. With a penchant for wispy lashes and streetwear, she writes about the worlds of fashion and beauty from the viewpoint of the modern fashion girlie..
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