Kitty Spencer at Cannes: Two Gowns, One Like Her Wedding Dress
Lady Kitty Spencer made her Cannes Film Festival debut on Thursday, 22 May 2025, and used the occasion for two very different evening looks: a sequinned purple gown for a film premiere, then a white, long-sleeved dress for the amfAR Gala that closely echoed her 2021 wedding gown.
A purple Dolce & Gabbana premiere look
For the premiere of La Venue de l’Avenir, Spencer, the niece of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, wore a fitted Dolce & Gabbana gown in deep purple, covered in sequins. She kept the styling glamorous but focused, adding diamond jewellery rather than competing accessories.
Deep purple is a flattering choice for sequins at night: it catches the light without the harshness of silver, and it photographs richly against a red carpet. A close, column fit let the fabric do the talking.
The choice of label was no surprise. Spencer has a long relationship with the Italian house, which also made her wedding dress.
An amfAR gown that recalled her wedding dress
Later the same evening she changed for the amfAR Gala, the charity fundraiser that runs alongside the festival. This time she wore a floor-length white gown with lace-like crochet work, long sleeves with ruffled detailing at the shoulders, and a full skirt. Hello! magazine described the dress as a near copy of her wedding look, and the resemblance is clear: long sleeves, volume at the shoulder and a full, traditional skirt.
Spencer married Michael Lewis in Italy in 2021 wearing Dolce & Gabbana. At the time, the designers said she had wanted a fairly traditional, clean cut, and that the dress drew on both Italian heritage and English Victorian influences. Her Cannes gown carried the same romantic mood, with gemstone drop earrings and soft make-up that kept attention on the dress.
Her sisters on the red carpet
Spencer’s younger sisters, the twins Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza Spencer, also walked the red carpet at the festival that day, in coordinated but contrasting gowns by Vera Wang Bride x Pronovias. One wore black and the other white, and both dresses shared a strapless neckline, peplum detailing and a flowing chiffon train. Where Kitty’s purple gown was all shine, the twins’ look was graphic and restrained, relying on the simple black-and-white contrast and their diamond jewellery.
Cannes and its new dress code
The 2025 festival was the first to spell out a ban on nudity on the red carpet, citing decency, alongside restrictions on very voluminous outfits. Spencer’s amfAR gown included some sheer elements, but its long sleeves and full coverage kept it well within the spirit of the rules, and the overall effect was demure rather than daring.
Taken together, her two looks showed a clear approach: one high-shine gown for the premiere, and a softer, more personal dress for the evening that nodded to one of the most photographed moments of her life.
