Cannes Scales Down Parties and Haircuts

Is the notoriously glamorous Cannes Film Festival in danger of becoming—gasp—less fabulous this year? Vanity Fair’s annual celebrity-infested black-tie bacchanalia, which remains the highlight after hours upon hours spent in darkened movie theaters, was canceled this year after organizers cited the recession. Fendi and Swarovski pulled out of sponsoring the VIP nightclub Jimmy’z, and Louis Vuitton has gone missing from AmFar’s AIDS charity fundraiser, while the festival’s official hairstylist Jacques Dessange is only bringing a team of 15, as opposed to 20. Even mainstay L’Oreal has pulled the plug on its huge promotional festival. Cannes deputy mayor mused, “People are afraid it will hurt their image to be seen in a place associated with wealth.” Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Inglourious Basterds, and Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces are expected to be two of the hottest tickets during the fest—if anyone still attends—after it begins May 13.