Since the sensational Bridgette Bardot bejewelled the sands of Pampelonne in just a bikini for a scene in the film ‘And God Created Woman’ in 1956, the Cote d’Azur propagated a daring and provocative attitude towards fashion on this stretch of coastline, emboldening women and high-class tourists by liberating how they dressed.

Over the decades the Cote d’Azur’s reputation as being a ‘playground for the rich and famous’ has escalated and is now firmly rooted as being one of the most glamorous destinations in the world.

But has much evolved in 55 years regarding the provocative fashion the movie icon generated, who, almost single-handedly transformed a small yet albeit upmarket fishing village into one of the world’s leading fashion-statement towns?

Facconable caught up with Rebecca Jane, a dedicated follower of fashion from London, who spends many a summer musing over the fashion on the highly influential and stylistically world prominent Cote d’Azur.

One would expect that after sipping France’s finest champagne in a lounge at the Ritz in Paris watching Jonny Depp drink cappuccinos on the next table donning a cowboy hat that anyone else would look ridiculous in, the ‘glamour’ stakes and fashion statements would significantly decline.

On the contrary, however, after checking out of the Ritz, Paris and heading south to the Cote d’Azur, as the weather becomes warmer, the clothes become skimpier and a new sense of ‘provocative’ style and glamour suspends in the air. Comparing the fashion of Paris with the Cote d’Azur, Rebecca Jane told Facconable,

“The refinement and sophistication of the Ritz in Paris has become lost to a more revealing and provocative style.”

“The skimpier the clothes the better, but not the same kind of skimpy as in a nightclub in Essex, as it is like the people here, with their wealth, fantastic physiques and designer clothes, deserve to wear super scant outfits. In places like St Tropez and Cannes people like to flaunt their wealth,” continued the fashion critic.

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Europe’s leading in-water exhibition returns later this year for its 34^th anniversary.

The exhibit offers visitors the opportunity to preview the finest yachts and boats on the market, all amongst the unique and exclusive setting of Cannes.

Yacht owners and buyers from countries gather from around the world to discover what the luxury boating world has to offer.

The show averages around 54,000 visitors each year and exhibits 500 boats in water, 87% of which are from overseas. It introduces 139 new models, and features 169 vessels that measure over 20 metres long.

There are also around 400 exhibitors, coming from 39 different countries. However, the organisers are continually pushing to expand into new exhibition areas to open the exhibition up to even more exhibitors and visitors.

The boat show is separated into 3 main areas:

The Vieux Port specialises in showing new yachts to potential buyers, boasting around 470 of the latest boat designs. They offer visitors the chance to preview the finest new models from the world’s leading shipyards. The collection is a mix of motorboats and sailing boats, measuring from 10 – 50 metres long. The Vieux Port also has 200 smaller boats that are shown on land, measuring less than 10 metres.

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Until the 7^th June 2011, the French Riviera town of St Tropez is holding two exhibitions and displaying six large sculptures made by Stefan Szczesny, in celebration of the German artist’s impending 60^th birthday.

Stefan Szczesny is a painter, sculptor and draughtsman, who has also dappled in graphics, photography and fashion design.

He is best known for organizing the “Rndschau Deutschland” in 1981 and co-founding of the Junge Wilde movement. Two of the artist’s most famous works are The Living Planet, which Szczesny created for Expo 2000, and the Mainau Island, produced in 2007.

To accompany the exhibitions and set of sculptures, until 31^st of October 2011, the Hotel Chateau de la Messardiere in St Tropez will be exhibiting an additional selection of Szczensy’s works including ceramics, sculptures and paintings.

The Stefan Szczesny project in St Tropez is known as “Shadows in the Sea” and is sponsored by the Germen division of the British car manufacturing company, Jaguar.

The “Shadows in the Sea” is one of three different sets of the artist’s black silhouette statues, aimed to represent Szczesny’s views of the classical depiction of Eve as the ‘embodiment of the eternal female’, which are separately being exhibited around Europe, appearing in only the most exquisite, exclusive and stunning of regions.

Earlier in the year, the Swiss town of St Moritz exhibited Szczesny’s “Shadows in the Snow” exhibition, a show which was said to enchant the art lovers of St. Moritz.

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Jane Fonda (not) showing her age. The 73 (yes 73!) year old actress looked stunning on the red carpet in a fitted white Emilio Pucci maxi dress complete with revealing  sheer panels. It would have been breath-taking on a woman half her age.

Cheryl Cole (nearly a third of Jane Fonda’s age at 27) also stole the show with another revealing creation. This time a Stephane Rolland dress, in white with a plunging neckline.

The notoriously elusive Terrence Malick’s ‘Tree of Life’ is as big as its two male stars, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. Early reviews show this is ‘cinema thinking big’, an epic on ‘an unashamedly huge scale’.

Ooops! Not so great for Keith Allen’s ‘Unlawful killing’, a documentary about the death of Princess Diana. Critics, rather than praising the film, are simply just walking out of screenings.

Cannes 2011 gigs have been a real success. Jesse J, Jamie Cullum, Kanye West and Lady Gaga have all, so far, performed.

Maybe they should have stopped at three? ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ is not getting the best of reviews.

Jodie Foster’s ‘Beaver’ is also generating huge interest. With the bold move of casting Mel Gibson in the lead role, Foster has taken a risk following Gibson’s recent ‘indiscretions’. However, early reports suggest that Jodie foster just may have rescued Mel Gibson’s career.

Interestingly, current reports from Cannes show 2 ‘Beaver’ tickets are being swapped for 1 ‘Tree of Life’ ticket.

We will bring you a full report of Cannes 2011 shortly.

On the 16^th May, the Faconnable Taxi made its debut at Cannes 2011.

The Audi Q5 SUV has been given the Faconnable treatment, and the result is sleek and sporty.

Featuring Faconnable’s Côte d’Azur-inspired 2011 Spring-Summer advertising campaign, it fits right into the glamour of this international event.

The Taxi represents everything great about both Cannes 2011 and Faconnable, sophisticated style, excitement and star quality.

The perfect way to arrive at the red carpet.