Attendees of Cannes Lions are being urged to wear black by an anonymous group as a statement of solidarity and safety as the Time's Up advertising movement gains momentum.
The anonymous group, calling themselves #WomenCannes, has formed to raise women's visibility at the award show and highlight sexual harassment in the industry, it explains on its website.
The group says sexual misconduct towards women has been observed during the festival and gender biases have prevailed, which has previously led to women not getting the recognition they deserved.
"The Cannes festival sets the scene for much reported and unreported sexual misconduct in advertising. As long as women of all kinds remain underrepresented at senior levels, and on stage winning awards this will remain true," the #WomenCannes website reads.
On its Instagram page, the group asks agencies to submit the names of female employees they’re sending to the festival and the projects they worked on so #WomenCannes can support their nominations and successes at the festival.
This move is reminiscent of the all-black dress code at Hollywood's Golden Globe awards and most recently, the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, where several actresses wore black for similar reasons.
Australian agency leaders are backing the Time's Up movement with a number of senior female leaders coming together. The group is launching a short survey, which you can find here, to get feedback to help shape the course of action.
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