Designers with prominent placements at Venice are gaining immediate exposure as the festival’s red carpet returns to the centre of the fashion calendar. George and Amal Clooney’s arrival by water taxi prefaced George Clooney’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a packed slate of premieres has turned the festival’s stepped entrances into an active platform for seasonal cues.
Several films screening this week have amplified interest in what stars wear, among them Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime, a Robert Pattinson-led portrait of To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, and Bunker, Florian Zeller’s marital drama starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Ellen Burstyn, at 93, is set to receive a Golden Lion and appears inél Mundruczó’s Place to Be and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Marilyn Monroe biopic, Flesh Impact, adding another layer of attention to the carpet.
Venice has a recent history of previewing shifts from heritage houses. Chanel, Dior, Versace and Bottega Veneta have all used the festival as an early showcase, and past highlights include Lady Gaga in a feathered Valentino in 2018 and Zendaya’s wet-look Balmain in 2021. This year followed that pattern, with a steady stream of couture and legacy brands visible on arrivals.
Photographers captured Amal Clooney in Stella McCartney beside George Clooney, Claire Foy in Bottega Veneta, Marion Cotillard in Chanel, Amanda Seyfried and Pamela Anderson in Miu Miu, Emma Corrin in Celine and Miu Miu, and Phoebe Bridgers in Alexander McQueen. Other noted presences included Sydney Sweeney and Vittoria Ceretti in Giorgio Armani, Mackenzie Davis in Celine, John Malkovich and Jack O’Connell in Dior, and Parker Posey in Valentino.
Beyond headline names, Venice presented a mix of models, musicians and actors whose wardrobe choices will feed fashion editors and social coverage throughout the festival run. The sequence of premieres and awards this week will continue to steer attention, determining which red-carpet looks gain traction as reference points for buyers and editors. Coverage of the remaining premieres and the Golden Lion presentations will decide which designers and stars emerge as the season’s dominant voices.
