As Hollywood heavyweights including Nicole Kidman, Kristen Stewart and Marion Cotillard prepare to grace the red carpet at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27), Relaxnews offers a guide to ten of the most unmissable galas and VIP soirees from the likes of AmfAR, Gucci and Chopard.

Coco Chanel never really dressed rock stars; yet rock and roll at its most insouciant and innocent was the cry of the latest cruise collection by the house she founded, a show staged amid much pageantry at the world’s most most famous chateau.

The 65th Cannes Film Festival kicks off May 16, and with late Hollywood beauty Marilyn Monroe as the event’s official icon, fashionistas can expect to see an array of A-list actresses echoing her old school glamour on the red carpet. See how you too can get the look.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A sweeping new Moscow fashion exhibit illustrates the evolution of Soviet couture behind the Iron Curtain from the post World War One era to Perestroika. “Fashion behind the Iron Curtain” at the 16th-century Tsaritsyno estate on Moscow’s outskirts spans seven decades of female coquetry, describing how Soviet women made do with silk night gowns for theatre, acquired designer items and scrounged for fabric to satisfy a hunger for style in spite of shortages. The retrospective offers glimpses of the sophisticated, Western-inspired dress of the Communist-era elite. …

Fashionistas are invited to take their seats at the first fashion show to stream live in 3D when Hugo Boss presents its Boss Black Fall/Winter 2012 catwalk show May 18 from Beijing.

Fashionistas have been on a quest for the ultimate in festival chic, with round sunglasses by labels including The Row and Dries Van Noten among the most viewed items on online style sharing community Polyvore during the past month.

It was an exciting moment for Rihanna on Thursday, May 10, as she donned a sexy white gown and walked her first red carpet as an actress. Never one to do things small, the Barbadian native is about to take Hollywood by storm, leading the charge in “Battleship,” the new blockbuster action flick based on the classic Hasbro board game of the same name. Budgeted at $200 million, the movie is Hasbro’s latest attempt to turn their popular games and toys into movie franchises; in fact, the great success of “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” led directly to the making of “Battleship.”

When the 65th Cannes Film Festival kicks off next week many of the world’s biggest A-list stars will be heading to crystal-maker Swarovski’s suite at the Hotel Martinez to make their red carpet accessory choices from this year’s Red Carpet collection.

Glittering atop a succession of royal crowns, the 35-carat “Beau Sancy” diamond has been witness to 400 years of European history.

Many of the world’s best dressed women will be flocking to France in the coming weeks, with Chanel’s Cruise collection this year taking place at the Château de Versailles near Paris just a couple of days before the launch of the star-studded Cannes Film Festival, sponsored by luxury jewelry house Chopard. Read about this and other important upcoming fashion events here.