tepping ut - Le Bal des Débutantes de Paris

It’s a romantic night of youthful
exuberance and haute couture in the
City of Light. Melissa Twigg goes
to Paris for an insider’s view of one
of the world’s most glamorous events,
the annual Bal des Débutantes
tepping
ut
Photography CRAZY ROUGE
2
hong kong tatler . march 2014
ho ng ko ng tatler . march 2014
QUEENS FOR
A NIGHT From
left, back row:
Princess Lavinia
Boncompagni
Ludovisi; Anna
Cleveland van
Ravenstein;
Naomi Schroeder;
Alexandra Louey;
Elly Lam; Isabel
Beatty; Ella
Mountbatten; and
Emily Madrigal.
Front row: Margot
Massenet and
Princess Larissa
Windisch-Graetz
3
Thhee
clock
cl
clo
strikes
str
st
trikes
k
m
mid
midnight
and the Eiffel Tower’s light show begins,
illuminating the interior of the Palais de
Chaillot. A wa
waltz
t st
starts to play and Prince
Charles-Emmanuel
Emmanuel de B
Bourbon-Parme, a
direct descendant
escendant of Lou
Louis XIV, steps forward
to take the hand of his daughter,
dau
Princess
Elisabeth,
th, to open the dan
dancing for the night.
Welcomee to Le Bal des Dé
Débutantes, the most
prestigious and Parisiann of events, an evening
where actual
ctual royalty flirts
irts with Hollywood
royalty, where
wher new money
mone and old money rub
shoulders
ers an
and where
ere ev
everyone is the proud
owner of a famous
mous surname,
s
a listed company
or an ancient pal
palace—or all three.
Inspired by British de
debutante balls of the
past, where young women
wom from aristocratic
families were presented
nte to the queen at
Buckingham Palace, the Bal, as it’s commonly
known, is in fact a modern concept and the
brainchild of Ophélie Renouard, an extremely
determined French PR with a deft touch for
networking and a not-so-little black book.
Renouard has masterminded the Bal since
1992 when she was given a one-year contract
to organise events for the Hôtel de Crillon
and hit on an idea that would capture the
world’s imagination. “Well, it has all the right
ingredients for
success,” says
Renouard. “The
girls are beautiful
and look and feel
like princesses for a
night. And Paris is,
well, Paris. Modern
life is not so filled
with glamour but at the Bal, glamour and
romance are everything. I think that is why
everybody loves it so much—it gives them an
experience they cannot find elsewhere.”
Like the heroines of the Disney fantasies
they grew up watching, these 24 well-born
young women are transformed from typical
teenagers into glossy, couture-clad goddesses
for one night. The elaborate process begins
the day before the Bal, on a cold Friday at
the end of November. “Even though most of
them come from privileged backgrounds, the
Bal is usually their couture and media debut,”
says Renouard. “They wear gowns and haute
jewellery [by Bucherer] for the first time and
it is a special moment for them.”
The Hôtel de Crillon has always been the
venue for the event (in English it is usually
IN THEIR PRIME Clockwise from bottom left: Naomi Schroeder;
ro
Elly Lam and Alexandra Louey; Ginevra
Fontes Williams and Victor Belmondo; Isabel Beatty, Viola Jacobsen Mikkelsen and Ella Mountbatten;
Tommaso Crimi, Lodovico Gritti, Sixte de l’Espée, Emilion de Roquefeuil and Octave le Gouvello
referred to as the Crillon Ball), but it was
recently acquired by Rosewood Hotels &
Resorts and is being renovated ahead of a
grand reopening later this year. In the interim,
the Bal is being held at the Palais de Chaillot
in Trocadéro, and the debutantes stay at plush
Hôtel Raphael near the Arc de Triomphe.
It’s in this old-world Parisian building
where the young women, daughters of
aristocrats, film stars, politicians and
billionaires, meet for the first time. Walking
into one of their richly decorated sitting
rooms, I pick my way over a sea of discarded
Louboutin shoes and am hit by a wall of
sound. Teenage laughter mixes with mobile
phone ring tones, the whine of hairdryers and
excited chatter in a medley of languages.
There are three Asian debs this year: from
Hong Kong, Elly Lam, the daughter of Peter
Lam and Lynn Hsieh, and Alexandra Louey,
daughter of William Louey and MarieChristine Lee; and from the Philippines,
Madrigal. “I am having so much fun,” says
Lam. “I love doing photo shoots and I really
feel like this is my moment to shine.” Louey
agrees, saying, “I imagine this is what getting
married feels like, getting to look beautiful
and be the centre of attention all weekend.”
Lam, inspired by her sister’s wedding dress
choice, is wearing Dior Haute Couture, Louey
is resplendent in a purple Georges Chakra
gown, and Madrigal wears a full-skirted pink
dress by J Mendel. “It was so exciting getting
to talk to J Mendel and work out exactly what
suited me,” says Madrigal. “This dress is like
something out of a fairy tale.”
But for many of these young women,
interacting with celebrated designers is
no rarity. Princess Larissa of WindischGraetz lives in an ancient palace off the
Piazza Navona in Rome with her parents,
Archduchess Sophie of Austria and Prince
Mariano Hugo of Windisch-Graetz, and looks
FANCY FOOTWORK Margot Massenet in the Christian Louboutin room
LIFE’S A BALL Clockwise from top left: Inside the Palais de Chaillot;
Princess Alexia von Auersperg-Breunner and her father, Prince Karl
von Auersperg-Breunner; Tommaso Crimi and Princess Larissa of
Windisch-Graetz; Rose Fisher and Count Pierrot du Saillant
Elly Lam,
Alexandra
Louey
and Emily
Madrigal
pose with a
car made by
Renault, an
official sponsor
of the Bal
like a princess from a storybook, with long
blonde curls, huge blue eyes and perfect
milky-white skin. “Oh, Valentino helped me
pick out my dress,” she says casually. “He is an
old friend of my mother’s and when he heard
I was coming to the ball, he chose a gown for
me from the latest collection.“
Anna Cleveland van Ravenstein, the
daughter of model Pat Cleveland and
photographer Paul van Ravenstein, is also
remarkably relaxed about her relationship
with one of fashion’s giants. “I’ve just moved
to Paris to live with my boyfriend, and Uncle
Karl thought it would be a good idea for
me to come to the ball to make my name
in French society,” she says. “Uncle Karl…
Lagerfeld?” I venture. “Who else?” she replies
with a bemused expression. “Uncle Karl has
been so good to me. I’ve known him since I
was two months old and I started modelling
for Chanel when I was 13. He picked this
vintage Chanel dress for me.”
Sophie Coleridge, the daughter of Condé
Nast president Nicholas Coleridge, had a
Kate Middleton moment when she picked
out her Alexander McQueen dress. “I met
Sarah Burton [creative director of Alexander
McQueen] and we chatted about how she had
to sneak into the palace for wedding dress
fittings in the run-up to the royal wedding,”
she says. “Thankfully my dress wasn’t so top
secret, but I am thrilled with it—I’m not
really a princess gown kind of girl.”
Friday is also the day when most of the
debutantes meet their dashing young cavaliers
for the first time. They are allowed to invite
friends, boyfriends and brothers to act as their
cavaliers but more often than not they ask
Renouard to pick a date for them—usually
princes or barons from old European families.
“When a deb wants us to find her a
cavalier, we look at the ages, the language
they speak, their heights and possibly
their backgrounds and usually it works,”
says Renouard. “We certainly do not plan
romance, but the beauty of it is that it
often happens unexpectedly. One German
debutante married her
cavalier and they now
have a young daughter
who I will certainly
invite to the ball as
soon as she turns 16.
It really is a very
romantic night.”
As I arrive at the
Palais de Chaillot the
following evening, I
can see why the Bal is
a breeding ground for young love. The dining
room and dancefloor are dominated by the
view of the Eiffel Tower just outside the bay
windows, and huge vases of white roses scent
the room. As princes and princesses, dukes
and duchesses, film stars and CEOs mingle in
the cavernous hallway, I slip downstairs to see
the debutantes and their dates before their
moment in the spotlight.
“I’m a bit nervous, but mainly really
excited. And luckily my cavalier is super
nice,” says Lam, who has been paired with
Viscount Emilion de Roquefeuil. “I met
him at the waltz rehearsal. It was definitely
awkward to meet
someone and then have
to hold their hand for
two hours, but he was
super charming and
kept saying ‘look into
my eyes’ because I was
a bit shy. Everyone has
been swooning over him
and saying how much
he looks like Chuck Bass
from Gossip Girl.”
Isabel Beatty, the willowy, dark-haired
daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette
Bening, is also rather taken by herr cavalier,
Brandolino Gritti. “We’ve onlyy jus
just met but
he’s lovely and we’re good friends
nds already,”
she says. “He’s Italian and it’s soo nice
nic to get to
know someone a bit different. I feel a million
“I imagine this is what
getting married feels like,
getting to look beautiful
and be the centre of
attention all weekend”
SAY YES
S TO THE
T DRESS Anna Cleveland van Ravenstein
Another strikingly modern yet utterly
feminine dress belongs to Margot Massenet,
whose mother is a nose for Lancôme and
Chloé. She wears a two-piece shirt and skirt
by Schiaparelli Haute Couture that stands out
in a sea of ball gowns. But perhaps the most
breathtaking dress is that of German polo
player and heiress Naomi Schroeder, who
is in a netted number by Stéphane Rolland
Haute Couture that draws gasps from the
crowd. “As soon as I saw this dress online I fell
completely in love with it,” she says.
Once the presentation is over, the debs sit
down and we all enjoy a lavish five-course
meal prepared by the Crillon’s head chef,
Christophe Hache. Profits from the night
are donated to Enfants d’Asie, a charity that
helps girls from impoverished families in
Southeast Asia receive an education, and Bern
gives a touching speech while we eat on the
impressive work the organisation is doing.
As the last plate is cleared, everyone moves
towards the dancefloor and the fathers and
daughters line up, all looking rather nervous
about the waltz ahead. Prince CharlesEmmanuel and his daughter open the dance,
followed by the other pairs. As the fathers
PARTY PEOPLE Clockwise from top left: Barney Harris and
d Sophie
Coleridge; the debutantes and their cavaliers dance the waltz; Annette
Bening and Ophélie Renouard; Diane de Chabot-Tramecourt; the band
plays with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop
HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY MAC AND ALEXANDRE DE PARIS; SHOES
BY CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN; JEWELLERY BY BUCHERER
miles
es away from LA an
and all my friends.
Someone
eo back home jjust texted me asking if
I wanted
nt to grab a smoothie, and I was like,
‘Erm,, I can’t, I’m in a haute couture gown by
Elie SSaab at a ball in Paris.’”
Victor Belmondo, grandson of French film
V
star Jean-Paul Belmondo and the cavalier for
sta
Brazilian beauty Ginevra Fontes Williams, is
pouring champagne for the debs and chatting
to his blonde date, who looks dazzling in a
scarlet gown by Chinese designer Guo Pei.
“She is super beautiful tonight. I feel like a
vvery lucky man,” he says. Alexandra Louey,
meanwhile, is giggling in the corner with her
m
cavalier, Octave le Gouvello du Timat. “He
reminds me of Robert Pattinson,” she whispers
to me as we make our way upstairs for dinner.
Once everyone is seated, one by one the
lovely young women are introduced to the
guests by French TV personality Stéphane
Bern. They look radiant as they glide through
the room on their cavaliers’ arms. One of the
th
more admired dresses is by Jean Paul Gaultier
mor
and
nd belongs to Rose Fisher, granddaughter
off Gap
G founder Don Fisher. “I love Gaultier,”
she
he says. “He has taught me to embrace the
beauty in androgyny, menswear and grunge.”
bea
gaze on their daughters with love and pride
at the young women they have become, there
are a few misty eyes in the room. “Dancing
with my dad was my favourite of the
evening,” says Madrigal. “He’s my best friend
and I love him so much.” As the first dance
ends, the cavaliers step in and the young men
and women twirl around the room, showing
off their newfound waltzing skill.
The mood changes with the opening chords
of Happyy by Pharrell Williams. Viola Jacobsen
Mikkelsen, daughter of Danish actor Mads
Mikkelsen, whoops with delight and grabs
the arm of Ella Mountbatten, a great-greatgreat-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Diane de Chabot-Tramecourt, daughter of a
French count, twirls around the pair in her
breathtaking Ralph Lauren gown. Annette
Bening and Pat Cleveland shimmy onto the
dancefloor with their daughters and a circle
of admiring men forms around them. William
Louey and Marie-Christine Lee dance with
Lynn Hsieh and Victor Wu, and soon the floor
is packed.
At 2am, the music stops and the older
guests make their way to the line of cars
waiting outside in the frosty Parisian
night. But the party is far from over for the
debutantes and their cavaliers, who stop off at
the Raphael to change and then head to L’Arc
Paris, an exclusive nightclub overlooking the
Arc de Triomphe. Shots are downed, lips are
locked, selfies are taken as the next generation
of the international jetset makes the most of
being young, rich and beautiful.
“I feel like a flower in bloom,” says
Cleveland van Ravenstein, who is by now
wrapped around her handsome French
boyfriend. “I think all the girls are in bloom.
It’s such a special age as we’re all on the cusp
of everything. I wish I could take this feeling
and bottle it forever.”
For mo
more photos
otos
of the
he Bal, visit
hongkongtatler.
ong ongta
com/feb15
co
om/feb