Diane Kruger really couldn’t be more chic if she tried. The German actress and former model has a body made for fashion, and she works each and every angle to brilliant effect, continuously sending out waves of shock and awe.

She is Miss Consistency, always dressing to perfection in the hottest labels, including Azzedine Alaia, Lanvin, Marchesa, Prabal Gurung, Prada and Chanel (she’s a brand ambassador), whether she’s on the red carpet, at a glittery benefit or a launch event.

This overachieving star has picked up another crown though, too, as the Film Festival Queen of 2012, trotting out trendsetting excitement at every turn.

She was indeed Cannes royalty this past year with one lusciously glam and deliciously daring look after the next from Christian Dior Couture, Giambattista Valli Couture, Nina Ricci and Vivienne Westwood (a VW rose-gold sequin gown was her most phenomenal entrance).

Diane’s wardrobe weapons of choice are unquestionably avant-garde, style-forward creations, ripped from the hautest runways of New York, Paris and Milan. And she generally looks every bit as good as the models who first debuted the designs—if not better.

But don’t for a minute think that she is content to rest on her past fashion wins.

This hip beauty usually has a surprise up her sleeve and has time and again proven she’s not afraid to experiment, playing with looks that range from ladylike to androgynous, loose-fitting to figure-flattering, covered-up to barely there, and everything in between.

She just usually happens to gamble well in her high-stakes style game.

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