Cate Blanchett has a unique knack for redirecting the spotlight beamed onto A-list actors to matters of greater importance. Take her turn as president of the Venice Film Festival jury in 2020, when the Oscar winner issued a statement declaring that she would only be rewearing previous red carpet looks over the course of La Biennale. With the world’s fashion press duty-bound to cover every Armani Privé confection and Acne Studios suit the actor appeared in on The Lido, her decision to take a more sustainable approach to event dressing generated countless headlines amplifying her core message. To wit: it’s chic to repeat. As her stylist, Elizabeth Stewart, told Vogue at the time: “Her idea of re-wearing is not a mandate, it’s a provocation… It’s a turning point because it shows that a critical mass is aware that change is necessary.”
So, when Cate arrived on the Croisette this month to promote *The New Boy—*a Warwick Thornton drama in which she plays a nun in wartime Australia—the world knew to expect politically provocative red-carpet appearances from the star. For her first premiere, Blanchett and Stewart turned to Louis Vuitton, with Nicolas Ghesquière fashioning a caped monochrome gown with silver embellishments entirely out of deadstock from the house’s ateliers. Yes, she looked impossibly glamorous, but she also highlighted the need to eliminate the waste currently endemic to the fashion industry.