Blackout on the red carpet: ‘best dressed’ a non-issue at Baftas

Women dress in black to turn awards ceremony spotlight from clothes to the fight for equality

• Baftas red carpet: from Angelina Jolie to Lupita Nyong’o – in pictures

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.