Elena Lenina. If that name rings a bell, there are two possible reasons. Perhaps you’ve somehow heard of the short-lived French reality TV program Nice People, which ran for just one season in 2003 and locked contestants from all over the world inside of a villa for 70 days. Lenina represented Russia on the series—and while she didn’t last long in the house, her appearance did help her gain a little notoriety.
The second reason: you’re a fan of the Cannes Film Festival red carpet. Because every year, Lenina appears there sporting a look that’s not only colorful, but also colossal: she’s the queen of elaborate hair. Curls, braids, bouffants, and glittery accessories help the former reality TV contestant and author to shine. Each of her appearances on the Cannes carpet is colorful and coordinated, from the shoes on her feet to the tips of her hair.
It’s true that her first three appearances, in 2003, 2006 and 2007, were relatively sober. But from 2011 onwards, Elena Lenina found what would set her apart in the French Riviera.
Although her appearances on international television have become rarer, Elena Lenina is still very active on her Instagram account and on her YouTube channel. Her more than 31,000 subscribers look there for her almost daily videos, which are rarely less than 45 minutes long, and cover subjects as diverse as Russian life abroad, plastic surgery, and her advice on finding love. The clips are always shot in a garden or in the lobby of a chic hotel, pink Yorkie in hand.
As the 78th Cannes Film Festival gets underway, here are some of Lenina’s most memorable looks from red carpets past.
2011
To attend the premiere of Woody Allen‘s film Midnight in Paris, Lenina opted for a black dress with a feathered skirt… and matching hair in a very vertical arrangement.
2012
Had Elena Lenina already guessed that pink would be the star color of The Grand Budapest Hotel, which Wes Anderson would direct two years later, when she walked the red carpet at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of Moonrise Kingdom? The fuchsia of her dress also appears in streaks in her hair, in her eyeshadow, and on her earrings.
2013
The following year, Lenina went back to black. For her first appearance before the screening of Jeune et jolie, she chose a very graphic dress, with matching clutch and makeup. Once again, her hair defied gravity.
The next day, for the walk up the steps of Passé, she had a change of mood, going for a totally red look—from the train of the dress to the lace ribbons mixed in with her hair.
And for her final red carpet appearance of 2013, before the premiere of Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian), Elena Lenina went blue, with an egg-shaped beehive.
2014
Elena Lenina read the dress code right: to attend the screening of Grâce de Monaco, the opening film of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, she arrived on the red carpet in a crimson princess gown. Her imposing chignon sported not one but several crowns. True Method dressing.
Here’s her second appearance at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, for the screening of Mike Leigh‘s Mr Turner. No Method dressing here, but quite a necklace of silver maxi pearls that match her creoles and clutch, and a double-bubble chignon.
The next day, Lenina was back on the red carpet for the Dragons 2 screening, with a textured dress to match her waffle hair.
2015
In honor of Mad Max: Fury Road, the socialite opted for a conical hairstyle to match her white dress with tulle skirt and lace strategically placed on the décolleté. Special mention for the angel wings on the back.
Here’s more volume for the premiere of Irrational Man: two textured blonde bubbles that balance perfectly on her head. We’re in awe of Lenina’s neck strength.
2016
Lenina returned to her favorite pink for the 69th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, in May 2016. To fête Money Monster, she opted for a fuchsia creation with silver details, which were echoed in her hair, worked like a forest with shiny branches.
The following day, for Ma Loute, she went back to pink and shiny details. But this time, her hair was gathered at the front of her head, in a two-tone embossed blond and pink heart shape.
Her third appearance was back to a more discreet hue, a lurex-like silver to discover The Good Big Giant. Her hair was worked into rollers (at least five, according to our expert eye).
To close out her Cannes Festival 2016, and her fourth appearance in a row, Elena Lenina once again called for Barbie pink, with a tulle skirt and satin shirt. The reminder of her skirt seems to appear in her hair: at the top with colorful additions, and at the foot of her puffed-up bun.
2018
For the opening ceremony, Elena Lenina opted for a Palme d’Or-colored gown, matching her earrings and the hair cone placed on the top of her vertically gathered locks—a reminder of the cones present on the top of her outfit.
2021
Three years later, Elena Lenina proved that she had lost none of her creative flair with this blond tornado that recalls the cape surrounding her silver sequined gown—an outfit to match Annette, screened as the opening film of the Cannes 2021 Festival.
She’s the queen of braids. To walk up the steps before the screening of Tout s’est bien passé, Lenina opted for an (almost) sober black and silver sequined dress. But the centerpiece of the ensemble is the imposing braids on either side of her face. We applaud it—but wouldn’t want to be sitting next to her in a screening room.
Back to gold sequin and curves like raisin loaves on the chest for Stillwater‘s stair climb. And on her hair, a crown of sequins mixed with flattened locks.
The 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival took place in July. But Elena Lenina came up with a way to avoid the heat: another vertical hairstyle, with wavy (and very lacquered) locks. An imposing gold chain also encircled her chest, reaching down to her feet and all the way around.
2024
Seems that Lenina went for an Effie Trinket-inspired look to attend the 2024 Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony, and a screening of Quentin Dupieux‘s Second Act.
She went back to the bubble bun for a second all-black and silver appearance, a futuristic look that was thematically appropriate for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Elena Lenina and pink: you don’t change a winning team. In this outfit, we see everything she’s been doing on the red carpet for the last ten years: fuchsia matched with dangling earrings, a dress with an elaborate neckline and, at the top, a curvaceous pleated look.
To attend a screening of Kinds of Kindness, Elena Lenina chose a look as varied as the film by Yórgos Lánthimos: a red skirt with baroque embroidery and, on top, bare shoulders and pearl appliqués. As for her hair, it’s a mix of rollers and braids on a pulled chignon—a nod to the script’s three parts, perhaps?
Original story from VF France.
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