There’s More To Cate Blanchett’s Venice Film Festival Wardrobe Than Meets The Eye

The Venice Film Festival kicked off on Tuesday - and it hammered home two things. 1) Call us shallow, but we’ve missed the red carpet. 2) It might never look the same again. First of all, the masks. Tilda Swinton coordinated a white face covering with her ruffled gown (Chanel) at her lifetime achievement ceremony, while jury member Cate Blanchett appears to prefer the disposable kind.

But it isn’t just masks, and socially-distanced air kisses, that are changing the way the red carpet looks. Cate Blanchett has committed to only wearing designs from her own archive for the festival's entirety. Not only that, she'll also be donating each look, in partnership with the designer, to RAD at Venice, a joint fundraising campaign between RAD, Red Carpet Advocacy, and stylist Elizabeth Stewart's not-for-profit, Chic Relief.

Chic Relief's website will host an auction of all the donated looks on 23 September - 2 October, and 100% of the proceeds will be split between UN Women and Facing History and Ourselves. Tilda Swinton, who's worn a succession of stunning looks from Chanel, will also be donating several outfits, as will Gia Coppola, Maya Hawke and Demi Moore.

For last night’s premiere of_Amants_, Blanchett recycled a sequin-encrusted top from Alexander McQueen. She first wore the design back in 2016, only this time she paired it with trousers instead of a sweeping black skirt for an equally sharp take. At Wednesday's Lacci premiere, she wore a black-and-white spangled gown by Esteban Cortázar. Keen red carpet watchers will have recognised its fluttering ruffles and racer-back reverse. The actor first wore the gown in 2005. Arriving at the premiere of Carol, Blanchett wore the gown with, if we’re not mistaken, exactly the same shoes as last night, Jimmy Choo’s Romy.

Now, recycling red carpet dresses isn’t exactly new. The Duchess of Cambridge is a repeat-wearer - the Alexander McQueen gold-and-white gown she wore to this year’s BAFTAs was first worn on 2012’s Diamond Jubilee Tour to Kuala Lumpur - and Keira Knightley famously repurposed her wedding dress (a strapless tulle number from Chanel) after saying ‘I do’. But most countries are still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, might the simple act of an actor wearing something they already own become another ‘new normal’?

READ MORE: See The Most Iconic Venice Film Festival Fashion Moments