If the Met Gala has become the ultimate high-fashion costume party, the Oscars the ur-brand marketing opportunity, and the VMAs an expression of pure dress-up id, the Cannes Film Festival, which will draw to a close on May 28, is the anything-goes oleo of all of the above. It is simply so long — 11 days — and involves so many stars of so many levels (A-list to D-list), not to mention red carpets, gala dinners and related photo ops, that every possible permutation of dressing for the public eye is represented.

But amid all the acres of Giambattista Valli tulle, Dior princess gowns and body-baring Peter Dundas looks; amid the classic tuxedos (black and white) and aviator shades, a few statement-making pieces and people went beyond the mere fabulous to offer a lesson about this particular moment.

1. Pink

When Pierpaolo Piccioli, the creative director of Valentino, revealed Pink PP, his special shade of hot pink (named for his initials) during the last Paris Fashion Week, and then decided to make pretty much his entire collection in that single color, the critical reaction was decidedly mixed. It was so … um, bright. And all kind of blended together.

But the show proved to be an unexpected hit with celebrities, who have been modeling pieces from the collection on red carpets since April. Yet elegant as the looks are, the celebs have seemingly missed the fact that, given how immediately identifiable, specific and blinding this particular color is, they all kind of look as if they are wearing the same thing.

Thus it was that, in the end, it was Valentino Pink PP more than any style or…