Amal Clooney’s Best Venice Film Festival Looks
Venice Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday, and this year the Clooneys have more reason than ever to make an entrance. George is being honoured with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, putting the couple firmly at the centre of the opening festivities.
Venice has always held a special place in the Clooneys’ story. It is where George and Amal married in 2014, with her wedding weekend wardrobe including Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen and Giambattista Valli Haute Couture. Over the years, the city has become the backdrop for some of her most memorable fashion moments.
2017 Suburbicon Premiere: Atelier Versace
This is where the Venice love affair really began. Amal wore a custom lilac-and-pink ombré silk chiffon Atelier Versace gown, with a cinched waist and a flowing skirt that carried the gradient all the way down.
It was Old Hollywood through and through, and she leaned into it with a coiffed, side-parted bob. Metallic silver Aquazzura First Kiss sandals completed the look.
Nearly a decade on, it’s still the reference point people pull up when they talk about Amal doing glamour gracefully: soft, romantic and completely at home on the Venice red carpet.
2023 Venice Arrival: Floral Monochrome Mini
Ahead of the 2023 festival, Amal touched down in Venice keeping things easy and refined in a floral monochrome mini dress, paired with a 16Arlington Kikka bag and Roger Vivier Viv in the City slingback pumps.
This was a low-key, chic arrival look before the real business – and a DVF honour – began.
2023 DVF Awards: Christian Dior by John Galliano
Amal picked up the DVF Leadership Award for her work on behalf of victims of human rights abuse that year and marked the occasion in a Christian Dior by John Galliano Fall 2000 lace slip dress.
Another archive pull, this came during her slip-dress era, but the tulle detail trailing from the skirt gave it enough of a twist to distinguish it from the others she had worn around that time.
Aquazzura All I Want sandals and a matching gold clutch completed the look.
2024 Wolfs Premiere: Atelier Versace
By the time Wolfs rolled around, Amal had fully cemented Versace as her Venice house. This one came in shades of yellow, lemon and canary, a genuinely welcome break from the endless parade of black gowns that dominated the red carpet that summer.
Rendered in soft lace, the gown had a romantic quality, while the corseted bodice was pure Donatella. Somehow, it managed to feel new and vintage at the same time, which is a trick Amal pulls off better than almost anyone.
A sparkling yellow Judith Leiber clutch and Aquazzura heels rounded it out. It just had to be Atelier Versace.
2025 Jay Kelly Cast Arrival: Balmain
Amal’s arrival look ahead of last year’s Jay Kelly premiere was the appetiser before the main course, and it still ranks as one of my favourite looks from her.
The custom pastel-yellow Balmain Resort 2026 dress featured the house’s signature buckle detailing and a neckline with just enough vintage flair. Plus, of course, it added another entry to her long-running love affair with yellow – see Wolfs above.
White Prada pumps, sunglasses and a matching Balmain Ebene bag completed the look.
2025 Jay Kelly Premiere: Vintage Jean-Louis Scherrer
And then came the look that split opinion. For the premiere itself, Amal dug into her beloved vintage archive again, this time reaching for a Jean-Louis Scherrer by Erik Mortensen gown from the Autumn/Winter 1995-96 collection.
The fuchsia taffeta, high-shine finish and voluminous silhouette delivered nostalgia in abundance. It’s not that the instinct was wrong; Amal usually threads the needle between vintage charm and timeless refinement better than most. This one just landed closer to “’80s prom queen” than “hidden archive gem.”
A Jimmy Choo Clemmie clutch and Aquazzura Forever More sandals were the quieter, more successful part of the equation.
Six looks, spanning nearly a decade, and Venice continues to bring out the best in Amal’s style, from romantic Versace gowns and archive finds to the more relaxed looks she wears around the Lido. With George collecting his Golden Lion this year, I’ll be here the second the pictures land.
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