The red carpet was a less colourful place at this year’s Baftas than it used to be, but a much more vibrant and interesting one.

An open letter signed by 190 actors had called on women in the film industry to wear black and to “use our power as communicators and connectors to shift the way society sees and treats us. We need to examine the kind of womanhood our industry promotes and sells to the world.” The all-black dress code was followed by almost all attendees – though the most high-profile woman of all, the Duchess of Cambridge, was a notable exception in a dark olive gown.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest From left: Letitia Wright, Hayley Squires, Ruth Wilson, Tessa Thompson, Marai Larasi, Gemma Chan, Gemma Arterton, Gwen Davis, Andrea Riseborough, Eileen Pullen, Greta Gerwig, Salma Hayek, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah and Barbara Broccoli. Photograph: Maja Smiejkowska/Bafta/Rex/Shutterstock

Women, historically underrepresented when the winners’ envelopes are opened, are the focus of attention on the red carpet. The Bafta blackout effectively redirected this spotlight from clothes to the fight for equality.



Andrea Riseborough, who was accompanied by Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, was one of several actors who brought a female activist instead of a date. Eileen Pullen and Gwen Davis, two of the “Dagenham girls” whose stand for equal rights helped usher in the 1970 Equal Pay Act, accompanied the actor Gemma Arterton, who starred in Made in Dagenham, the 2010 film about their struggle. Putting themselves alongside other women rather than on the arm of a man, the women challenged the way they are often portrayed on screen.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Saoirse Ronan arrives on the red carpet. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

The traditional red carpet refrains – “Who are you wearing?”, “You look beautiful!” – were barely heard. (Edith Bowman, the red carpet co-host, made an exception in order to tell the 86-year-old Davis she looked stunning.) Instead, the journalist and activist Afua Hirsch, who accompanied Naomie Harris, told the story of Yaa Asantewaa, “the Joan of Arc of Africa”. Tessa Thompson spoke of the importance of the Time’s Up movement in fighting “not just gross abuses of power but imbalances of power”. Florence Pugh spoke about her next project, King Lear. Riseborough called out the fact that “you are more likely to see an alien on screen than an Asian woman”.

The change of tack was reflected on social media, where data analysis by Meltwater covering the run-up to and first hour of the red carpet found that the majority of posts mentioned #TimesUp.

There was plenty of glamour – a black dress has never been a barrier to that – and the dress code was an excellent showcase for some phenomenal earrings. But the most notable trend, aside from black, was a move toward equality of body temperature. Saoirse Ronan wore a dress with a polo neck. Angelina Jolie wore a wrap and Bowman chose a faux fur mini cape and long gloves. Riseborough had lace sleeves on her Elie Saab dress, while Natalie Dormer’s Alberta Ferretti gown had black chiffon sleeves.

The “best dressed” label seemed a non-issue. The point of a blackout is solidarity. When men wear tuxedos and women wear contrasting colourful dresses, the men have a clubbable, comradely appearance while the women are framed as competing characters.

Among the first to arrive was Kristin Scott Thomas. “I know I haven’t stopped talking since all this started,” she said of the Time’s Up badge pinned to her black coat dress. “This is to keep the conversation alive and moving forward. We need equality – now,” she added crisply. “We’ve had enough.”