The first-time director admitted he wore a beret to channel ‘old school’ auteurs at Cannes – though mimicry can only take you so far
I
t happened, as most of the best fashion moments do these days, at Cannes. I’m not talking about Demi Moore wearing a pink bow the size of a dog, or Jane Fonda sparkling in Gucci to the point of blindness, but John Travolta, of all people, who appeared at the festival this week to debut a new film and a new look, the centrepiece of which was a beret.
He actually had three in rotation, in black, brown and cream. On the seafront boulevard La Croisette, he paired them with wire-frame spectacles and a beard that appeared to have been applied with a felt-tip pen. A beret, beard and specs you say? Hardly a radical glow up for a 72-year-old celebrity. But that didn’t stop images of Travolta from going viral, sparking some lively online conversations comparing him to – in no order – a barista, a Bond villain and a character from Guess Who?.
Happily, the man himself was delighted to reveal his inspiration in a charming interview with CNN. Since he was marking his first foray into directing, Travolta had decided to dress like film directors from the past. “You’re an actor,” he had told himself, scrolling through images of Ingmar Bergman and Roberto Rossellini in similar getup. “Play the part of a director.” In other words: manifest.
