Once again, Venice has taken centre stage as the meeting point for film, celebrity and fashion. Every year, the floating city welcomes actors, models and some of the entertainment industry’s most celebrated names for one of cinema’s most prestigious events—and, alongside the films, comes one of the most closely watched red carpets of the year.

While the Venice Film Festival is rooted in the world of cinema, fashion has become an essential part of its identity. From glamorous arrivals across the lagoon to major premieres and exclusive evening events, the festival offers a unique stage where celebrities can transform an appearance into an unforgettable style moment.

And 2026 has already delivered an impressive number of them.

This year’s fashion conversation has been shaped by a striking combination of custom couture, archival designs, powerful colour choices and dramatic silhouettes. Against Venice’s extraordinary backdrop, celebrities have embraced everything from understated elegance to unapologetic theatricality.

The city itself makes every appearance feel even more cinematic. Water taxis move through the canals, centuries-old palazzos frame the arrivals and the Palazzo del Cinema becomes one of the most important stages in the international fashion calendar.

Pamela Anderson, Vittoria Ceretti, Irina Shayk, Kendall Jenner and Mariacarla Boscono are among those who have already made a lasting impression. Each has brought a different vision of glamour to Venice, from bold colour and Italian craftsmanship to contemporary sensuality, fashion nostalgia and statement-making design.

With more premieres still ahead, there will undoubtedly be even more remarkable looks to come. But for now, these are the appearances that have helped shape the style story of Venice Film Festival 2026.

Pamela Anderson brings bold colour to the lagoon

Pamela Anderson made a memorable entrance at the AmfAR Gala with a look that proved just how powerful a single colour can be.

The actress stepped onto the red carpet wearing a vibrant orange satin gown, completed with a coordinating shawl that added an elegant sense of drama. Surrounded by the familiar shades of black, white and metallic eveningwear, the vivid orange immediately captured attention.

The choice also reflected the evolution of Anderson’s personal style. In recent years, she has embraced a more relaxed and refined approach to glamour, favouring luxurious fabrics, clean silhouettes and an effortless sense of confidence.

Her Venice appearance followed that same direction.

The satin reflected the light beautifully, giving the gown a luminous quality, while the simplicity of the silhouette ensured that the colour remained the undeniable star of the look.

Elegant, confident and refreshingly unexpected, Anderson’s appearance was a reminder that the most memorable red-carpet moments do not always require elaborate embellishment. Sometimes, one exceptional shade is enough.

Vittoria Ceretti embodies modern Italian elegance

Vittoria Ceretti brought a sense of effortless sophistication to Venice in a custom Armani Privé gown.

As one of the most influential models of her generation, Ceretti has developed a remarkable ability to make even the most intricate fashion creations appear completely natural. Her presence on the red carpet is confident but never forced, allowing the clothes themselves to remain part of the story.

Her Armani Privé appearance perfectly reflected that balance.

The custom design combined exquisite craftsmanship with timeless glamour, embodying the refined aesthetic that has made the Italian fashion house synonymous with elegance.

There was also something especially fitting about the moment. Seeing an Italian supermodel wearing Italian couture in Venice felt like a celebration of the country’s enduring influence on the global fashion industry.

Ceretti kept the styling focused and allowed the gown’s construction and craftsmanship to take centre stage.

The result was sophisticated, polished and distinctly Italian—a masterclass in glamour that relied on precision rather than excess.

Irina Shayk gives Venice glamour a sharper edge

Irina Shayk took a more daring approach to red-carpet dressing for The Echo Chamber screening.

The model arrived in a fitted black dress featuring dramatic lace-up detailing, bringing a darker and more contemporary mood to Venice.

Rather than opting for the soft, romantic silhouettes often associated with the festival, Shayk chose something sharper and more structured. The fitted shape created a powerful silhouette, while the lace-up elements introduced an unexpected sense of attitude.

The result was sleek, sensual and unmistakably modern.

Black may be a permanent fixture of red-carpet fashion, but Shayk demonstrated how the classic colour can continue to feel fresh when combined with bold construction and interesting details.

Her appearance also reflected the fearless attitude that has defined much of her fashion career. Shayk has consistently moved between timeless glamour and more daring, fashion-forward choices, and this Venice moment was no exception.

By combining sophistication with a subtle sense of rebellion, she created one of the festival’s most contemporary looks.

Kendall Jenner gives an Armani classic a new life

Kendall Jenner looked to the past to create one of the most memorable fashion moments of the festival.

The supermodel arrived wearing a shimmering gold floral sequin dress from Giorgio Armani’s autumn/winter 1995 collection, bringing an archival design back into the spotlight.

The intricate embellishment caught the light from every angle, creating a glamorous effect that felt perfectly at home against Venice’s cinematic surroundings. The combination of gold tones and floral detailing gave the gown a sense of luxury while maintaining the distinctive spirit of the original design.

Archival fashion has become an increasingly important part of contemporary celebrity style. By revisiting historic designs, stars can celebrate influential creative moments while introducing fashion history to a new generation.

Jenner’s Armani choice did precisely that.

The gown was more than simply a beautiful vintage piece—it created a dialogue between fashion’s past and present.

Venice was also the ideal setting for such a moment. With its extraordinary history, artistic heritage and enduring relationship with glamour, the city provided the perfect backdrop for a look that celebrated the past while still feeling remarkably current.

Mariacarla Boscono makes Chanel the headline of the night

Mariacarla Boscono delivered one of the festival’s most theatrical fashion moments in a spectacular Chanel Cruise 2027 ballgown.

Covered in French newspaper headlines, the dramatic creation immediately became one of the most eye-catching looks to appear in Venice.

The elongated silhouette transformed typography into a bold fashion statement, with the printed headlines becoming an essential part of the design. While the concept brought to mind some of fashion’s most iconic newspaper-print moments, Chanel gave the idea a distinctive and highly theatrical interpretation.

The result was playful, dramatic and impossible to ignore.

There was also something perfectly ironic about the moment: Boscono was dressed in headlines while becoming one herself.

Her appearance was the kind of fashion moment designed to travel far beyond the red carpet, continuing through photographs, social media and conversations across the industry.

The Chanel gown also captured the unique spirit of Venice as a fashion destination. The festival creates space for experimentation and encourages a level of drama that feels perfectly at home among the city’s historic architecture and cinematic atmosphere.

In Venice, fashion can become part of the performance.

And Boscono embraced that idea completely.

Her Chanel creation was more than an extraordinary gown—it was a visual statement, a moment of theatre and one of the defining fashion highlights of Venice Film Festival 2026.