Nerves of steel and hairspray are musts for Cannes red carpet

CLASHING PINK

With all eyes in the entertainment industry on Cannes, making a memorable red carpet entrance is a must for stars, and brands from Swarovski to L'Oreal also seek to benefit.

Chinese beauties dazzle the red carpet at Cannes

Christian Dior fashion show held in Monaco

"Now the movies, and especially the red carpet, are becoming the new fashion catwalks," said Swarovski's public relations director Francois Ortarix. "As a brand, we had to be here also."

Stars managed to keep the fashion stakes high, with fashionistas like China's Fan Bingbing showing off new outfits at a series of parties.

Dior, with its full skirts and elegant appeal, appeared to be the favorite of the fashion set this year as new designer Raf Simons has made wooing the A-listers a priority.

Cotillard and actress Jessica Biel attended Dior's cruise collection fashion show in Monaco on Saturday night. It was marked by bold colors and pointy-toed shoes.

But some opted for Chanel, such as "Harry Potter" actress Emma Watson who chose a pink and black sequined dual-tone dress for the premiere of Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring". Model and actress Milla Jovovich chose a black and white floral sequined Chanel in one of the few bold prints to hit the red carpet.

An even more striking choice was made by "Baywatch" actor David Hasselhoff, in town to promote his new movie "Killing Hasselhoff", who wore a fuchsia pink shirt under his tuxedo.

"Red carpet, pink shirt ... I know, sorry," he quipped.