It does seem the sun is setting, after 25 years, on Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei on RTL.
   Last Thursday, the network released three episodes from 8.15 p.m., and to heck with the low ratings of the last episode which would be far too late for younger viewers. They’re doing the same this week, and finishing up the season next week with the two last ones made.
   It’s no secret that the viewer numbers have been falling year after year, especially after the departure of Tom Beck, and the long-running actioner costs a lot to make—too much for a show that now nets around the 2 million mark each week, with increased competition from other networks and forms of entertainment.
   Last year, the show was revamped again, but unlike previous efforts, this was a very bumpy and massive reset. Shows don’t always do well after this, especially a revamp that was bigger than Martial Law abandoning most of its original cast in season 2 as well as not resolving the season 1 cliffhanger. Or each of the incarnations of Blackadder.
   Cobra 11 survived most earlier revamps, such as the seasons with Vinzenz Kiefer, because it maintained some continuity. We didn’t mind the anachronisms and the inconsistencies as long as the heart of the show was there. Over the first two decades, there was a humanity to the show, regardless of how much haters think it was a shallow actioner, and by that I refer to the home life of the main character, Semir Gerkhan, portrayed by Erdoğan Atalay.
   Viewers invested a lot into Semir and Andrea, and even with the 2014–15 seasons, we could count on that behind the emotional core of the series. It didn’t matter that the bright, cheerful years of Beck had become a sombre-keyed drama, with the happy couple’s marriage on the rocks, Semir sporting a full beard and not his goatee, and a major story arc.
   It was a return to the action–comedy tradition in 2016 with Daniel Roesner taking over from Kiefer, who I was surprised to see later in Bulletproof.

Semir and Andrea: the emotional heart of Alarm für Cobra 11.

   With Roesner’s departure, producers sought to get rid of everyone else on the show, wrapping up their storylines, so that 2020 would begin with only Atalay and Gizem Emre, who joined the cast in 2014, reprising their roles. We can deal with Semir pairing up with a female partner for the first time in 24 years (Vicky Reisinger, played by Pia Stutzenstein), having a new boss (a disabled character played by an able-bodied actor, Patrick Kalupa; and since we never had an episode about how the character became disabled, it seems a slap in the face to not cast a disabled actor), and an irritatingly dark set. But Andrea and the kids have been written out, not mentioned again; enter Semir’s estranged mother, who only became estranged a couple of seasons ago, since the character said previously that he called her every Christmas. To all intents and purposes, this was a new show with little connection to the old. And I think they may have gone one step too far in their efforts to present something new to viewers.
   There is a slight return to the structures of the older scripts in this second block of season 25, with an emphasis on the stories over the action (as there had been at the start). There are moments where you even recognize the show. But if the first half of the season had put you off, you never would have found out, especially since RTL hasn’t even bothered to show the action scenes in many of the press photos.
   The scheduling is exactly what you’d expect a network to do in order to kill a show, to say that the average viewer numbers had dropped again, too far to be viable. It’s the sort of show that might have a TV movie or two later on, but for now, I’m not that surprised there are statements that this 25th season (28th, if you believe the network) is the last ‘sein wird’ (for now). Another retooling for the 26th so it could return? Or time to wrap it all up?
   I don’t think it bodes well for us fans, unless they can tap into the Zeitgeist again for something that modern viewers are going to love.—Jack Yan, Founder and Publisher

Dave Benett/AmFAR; Andreas Rentz/AmFAR; Samir Hussein

The AmFAR gala is always the social highlight of the Festival de Cannes, though this year’s, the 27th, was far more low-key, with guest numbers at 400 rather than the usual 900, and strict COVID-19 protocols in place.
   Global campaign chair Sharon Stone (in custom Dolce & Gabbana) played host, while Alicia Keys (in Chanel prêt-à-porter and Chanel haute joaillerie) performed live, at the outdoor affair held at the Villa Eilenroc in Antibes.
   Carine Roitfeld curated a live fashion show as part of this year’s charity auction.
   Guests included Stella Maxwell (in Atelier Versace), Kat Graham (in Nicolas Jebran), Nina Dobrev (in Mônot), Regina King (in Schiaparelli), Bella Thorne (in Miu Miu), Nicolas Maury (in Chanel), Rachel Brosnahan (in Vivienne Westwood), Lyna Khoudri (in Chanel), Vicky Krieps (in Chanel), Marina Ruy Barbosa (in Mônot), Dylan Penn (in Chanel), Lola Nicon (in Chanel), and stylist Jenke Ahmed Tailly (in Chanel).
   Prior to the 2021 event, the Cannes gala had raised over US$235 million in the fight against Aids.
   Photocalls and premières as the 2021 Cannes Film Festival closed saw Jeanne Balibar and Vicky Krieps in Chanel on day 11; Sharon Stone in Dolce & Gabbana, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Gucci, Gemma Chan in Oscar de la Renta, Leila Bekhti in Dior, Rosamund Pike in Dior, Mati Diop and Lyna Khoudri in Chanel, Adèle Exarchopoulos in Jacquemus, and Tilda Swinton in Schiaparelli, on the final day.
   Julia Ducournau won the Palme d’Or for her movie Titane, and wore Chanel as she accepted the honour. She is only the second female director to take home the prize.

Dave Benett/AmFAR; Andreas Rentz/AmFAR; Samir Hussein; courtesy AmFAR

Andreas Rentz; Pascal le Segretain; courtesy labels

Vittorio Zunino Celotto; Dominique Charriau; Samir Hussein

On day 7 of the 74th Cannes Film Festival, Iris Law wore a memorable white Christian Dior dress with Bulgari jewellery at the première of Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, while Denise Tantucci went metallic in a head-to-toe silver dress by Gucci. Jury member and French actress Mélanie Laurent wore a gunmetal strapless gown from Gucci. Lyna Khoudri wore Chanel, from its Métiers d’art Paris–Châteaux des dames collection, while Maggie Gyllenhaal went with Chanel haute couture spring–summer 2021. Elsa Zylberstein, who like Gyllenhaal is on the jury, chose a Chanel pleated silk dress from its autumn–winter 2018–19 haute couture collection.
   The photo call for The French Dispatch the following day saw more casual looks with Khoudri in Chanel prêt-à-porter spring–summer 2020. That evening’s première, for Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu’s Tralala, saw Maiwenn in Chanel Métiers d’art Paris–31 rue Cambon 2019–20, with Chanel shoes. Director Julia Ducournau also chose from this collection for the première of her film, Titane.

Virgile Guinard; Samir Hussein; Vittorio Zunino Celotto; Dominique Charriau; Pascal le Segretain; Daniele Venturelli; Kate Green; Stephane Cardinale/Corbis

Pascal le Segretain; Daniele Venturelli

Arguably, Bella Hadid stole the show in a Schiaparelli haute couture autumn–winter 2021–2 dress, designed by Daniel Roseberry, at the première of Tre Piani on day six of the Cannes Film Festival. The wool crêpe dress featured a low-cut neckline, and Hadid complemented it with a gilded brass necklace with trompe l’œil lungs, adorned with rhinestones.
   The Luxembourgeoise actress Vicky Krieps, star of Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island, is a fan of Chanel, wearing designs from the spring–summer 2021 haute couture collection at the film’s première. Krieps herself was wary of the front row but had been invited to a Chanel show with a handwritten note from Karl Lagerfeld, according to WWD. Lagerfeld, as it turned out, was a fan of Krieps, and the two met post-show.
   Krieps’s co-star Tim Roth wore a Prada dinner suit and brushed leather shoes; he similarly wore Prada at the photo call. Melissa George chose a gown from the Christian Dior haute couture spring–summer 2020 collection.
   During the day, Dylan Penn also chose from Chanel, wearing a pullover and trousers from the cruise 2021–2 collection at the photo call for Flag Day.

Pascal le Segretain; Daniele Venturelli

Chanel

The change to July for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival has helped with guaranteeing great weather, and some will celebrate Bastille Day during the period, but overall there has been less buzz with COVID-19 still being a reality—even if France attempts to downplay it as the event went ahead.
   The opening ceremony saw Carla Bruni in Céline, Marion Cotillard, Angèle, Sébastian Tellier and Mati Diop in Chanel, Mélanie Thierry in Dior, and Lou Doillon in Gucci on the red carpet.
   L’Oréal Paris continued with its ambassadors walking the red carpet as part of its ongoing sponsorship, with Helen Mirren, Andie MacDowell, Leila Bekhti, Nidhi Sunil and Baptiste Giabiconi.
   The July 7 dinner to celebrate Leos Carax’s Annette, starring Marion Cotillard, was hosted by Chanel, for whom Cotillard is an ambassador.
   It ties in perfectly with Chanel’s cinema theme this year as No. 5 celebrated its centenary.
   Sixty guests attended the dinner with Chanel’s Virginie Viard at Bijou Plage, including Carax and Cotillard, Charlotte Casiraghi, Angèle, Soo Joo Park, Simon Helberg, Sparks, Tilda Swinton, Sébastian Tellier, Mati Diop, Naama Preis, Nadav Lapid, Rebecca Marder, Anne Berest, Rianne van Rompaey, Mica Argañaraz, Tonya Lewis Lee, Molly Lewis, Lola Nicon, Nicolas Maury, and Jenke Ahmed Tailly.
   Earlier in the day, Preis had appeared on the red carpet for Nadav Lapid’s Ahed’s Knee, in Chanel haute couture spring–summer 2021 complemented by Chanel high jewellery and shoes. Géraldine Pailhas chose from Chanel’s ready-to-wear line for spring 2021 as she walked the red carpet for François Ozon’s Tout s’est bien passé. Didi Stone Olomide walked for L’Oréal Paris at the latter, and Giabiconi returned for the French beauty brand.

L’Oréal Paris; Chanel

The 1970s have well and truly returned, and we don’t just mean with the uncertain economic mood. H&M’s Studio collection for autumn–winter 2020–1 reflects this, too, with a collection called The Refined Rebel, inspired by the 19th-century writer, Violet Paget (who used Vernon Lee as her nom-de-plume), and her residence at the Palmerino villa in Firenze. Despite officially referencing Paget, the style is very much 1970s, with big lapels and a slight flare for suits, including some outlandish colours in green and blue; big-shouldered coats and dresses in a multi-coloured print resembling splashes of paint; recycled polyester frilled blouses; a grey deconstructed sleeveless coat; and chunky-heeled boots. The clothes are gender-fluid, suiting the times, but in the mode of 1970s David Bowie, who was there well before the mainstream. The colour palette is azure blue and malachite green, says H&M, with champagne pink and marbled prints.
   The campaign has been shot separately from different parts of the world, given distancing rules and travel restrictions in place. Barbie Ferreira, Veronika Heilbrunner, Celeste, Alton Mason, Young Emperors and Mia Kong have each done their own interpretations of the collection and the imagery brought together by H&M. Meanwhile, Irina Shayk, Jameela Jamil, Sasha Lane and Indya Moore have donned designs from the range in a series of celebrity images.
   Customers are invited to share their own images from the range.
   ‘The AW20 Studio collection muse is not afraid to challenge the status quo. This collection is for those that celebrate being oneself above all else. We hope our customers feel inspired to dress with a carefree, rebellious attitude,’ said H&M’s creative adviser, Ann-Sofie Johansson.
   ‘In keeping with H&M’s strive for innovation, the H&M Studio team experimented with an exciting new campaign format for AW20. Adapted for today’s climate, this new way of working gives our global cast the creative freedom to style, photograph and express themselves in the comfort of their own space. We hope the new collection and campaign encourages everyone to celebrate their style,’ said Kattis Bahrke, H&M’s head of creative marketing and communications.