From Rihanna to Aishwarya Rai: 15 iconic fashion moments from Cannes red carpet

If the Met Gala is the all-star showcase of red carpet entrances, the Oscars the skills championship, and the MTV Video Music Awards the X Games, then the Cannes Film Festival is effectively the playoffs: an extended period in which celebrities show up multiple times in clothes high and low, demonstrating all their moves.

And though outfits seem to be getting increasingly extreme with the proliferation of social media, a look back through the history of the festival’s runway (oops, red carpet) — which this year runs May 16 to 27 — reveals that it was, in fact, ever thus.

The Croisette boulevard has always been a catwalk and we, the rapt audience looking on.

From Madonna to Rihanna and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, here's a look at 15 fashion triumphs from Cannes over the decades:

1957, Elizabeth Taylor

When she attended Cannes on the arm of her third husband, producer Mike Todd (who was there to promote Around the World in 80 Days), Taylor was Hollywood royalty, and she dressed the part — from the tip of her diamond Cartier tiara to the hem of her white Balmain gown and the fingertips of her opera gloves. The princess dress would forever after be a festival staple (not least on Princesses Grace and Diana when they would take their own Cannes bows).

1966, Catherine Deneuve

Deneuve attended Cannes with her then-husband, photographer David Bailey, in a long seaside-striped sequin Yves Saint Laurent T-shirt dress. She was a de facto YSL ambassador before that term had even entered the fashion playbook (back then, the usual appellation was “muse”). She would remain one for decades, loyally wearing YSL onscreen and off. When it comes to casual glamour, however, this dress set the tone, proving that the concept was not an oxymoron but a whole potential genre unto itself.

1974, Jane Birkin

Birkin popped up at Cannes with her beau, Serge Gainsbourg, and a picnic basket as a handbag, toting it not just during the day but on the red carpet with a glimmering frock. Reportedly discovered in a fishing village in Portugal, it was the Birkin bag before the Birkin bag. It became a symbol of the British star and of a certain 'je ne sais quoi' in boho style and the freewheeling nature of Cannes.

1991, Madonna

She came to Cannes to unveil Madonna: Truth or Dare — and herself. Decades before Lady Gaga stripped down to her undergarments on the Met Gala steps, Madonna walked the carpet for her premiere in a voluminous pink taffeta coat by Jean Paul Gaultier — only to drop it at the last moment to reveal a white satin cone bra, knickers and a garter belt set. She jolted the public out of their torpor and started a new era of peekaboo dressing.

1995, Sharon Stone

In 2002 Stone came to Cannes as a member of the film festival jury and revived her flagging profile by walking the red carpet in a different fashion statement every night. But years before that, she made dressing noise when she arrived at the premiere of Unzipped in a champagne-colored satin skirt that was, well, unbuttoned to reveal a bedazzled romper beneath. Ever since, shorts have been a festival staple.

1998, Kate Moss

Minimalism came to the Croisette courtesy of Moss, attending the premiere of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with her then-boyfriend, Johnny Depp. Moss wore a black cocktail dress with ostrich feathers at the top and almost no makeup with merely a touch of diamonds and barely-there sandals. She made everyone else look overdone and overdressed, washing the Augean stables of Cannes clean.

2007, Tilda Swinton

Swinton strode the carpet in a metallic pantsuit, proving that a woman does not need a big dress to make a big statement.

2008, Linda Evangelista

Evangelista posed like a gold Greek statuette in Lanvin at the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Models had become key parts of the festival’s opening evening mix, upping the fashion ante even further.

2015, Lupita Nyong’o

Nyong’o seemed to embody springtime itself in a green pleated Gucci chiffon dress accented with crystal flowers. It was only a few months after Alessandro Michele had taken over as creative director of the Italian house, and the dress heralded the arrival of a new aesthetic and Hollywood love affair with Gucci.

2016, Amal Clooney

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.