The Cannes Film Festival and the charm of the tiny French coastal city that has hosted it since 1949 offer all things to all people. For two weeks out the year, Hollywood insiders, tourists and locals convene to celebrate the art of film. They shop, drink, party and flock to the golden sand beaches at La Croisette promenade, one of the town’s famous hotspots, and take refuge in its iconic Victorian-era Carlton Cannes Hotel—mixing work and pleasure in the town that made resort vacationing the perfect escape from the everyday.

The festival and its famous 24-step red carpet brings all the glitz and glam Hollywood has to offer—and fashion-worthy moments too. For decades, WWD has had its “Eye” page candidly on Cannes. Catching glimpses of the filmmakers, locals and new and known celebrities: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Isabelle Rupert, Cary Grant, Dustin Hoffman, Fred Astaire and actress Edy Williams, whose topless arrivals barely raised an eyebrow in the 1970s.

Today, things are different, but the event that set the tone for fashionable, globetrotters and summer forays remains camera-ready.

Here is a candid look back at the Cannes Film Festival from WWD and the Fairchild Archives.