Debutantes of the New Age
Le Bal Des Debutantes debuted in 1994, created by Ophelie Renounard as a way to bring back old traditions. However, unlike former Bridgerton style debutante balls, where young women are presented to find a match, her spin is more humanitarian than matrimonial. “World Central Kitchen,” helps feed communities during times of crisis, and it is a beneficiary of the ball. Additionally, she supports education charities that further opportunities for development for Southeast Asian women, and funds prenatal education programs with the Seleni Institute.
2023’s ball was held at a Shangri-La Paris, a hotel which used to be a residence of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew Prince Roland Bonaparte.Â
According to an interview done by Arabian Moda, Renouard is a 13th generation Parisian, who studied psychology in America and moved back to Paris after. She has a PR/marketing background and years of experience running events at hotels and palaces enabling her to put on such a spectacular show.Â
“I worked with several hotels and palaces and I always wanted to create an international charity event. The first idea I had was a haute couture fashion show which then transitioned into Le Bal in 1994”
In her interview with Arabian Moda, she states that her primary goals for le Bal is to preserve this as a charity event rather than commercial event and create beautiful memories for the debutantes and their escorts.
Specially handpicked by Renounard herself, she chooses young ladies from families with rich histories. Attendees include royal descendants, young ladies with family ties to a political party, descendants of Hollywood legends like Sean Connery, Gregory Pecklike, Reese Witherspoon, musicians like Phil Collins, artists and more, according to an article by Business Insider.Â
One hidden treasure had everybody scrambling to find out, “Who is she?” With a private Instagram and very little public presence, Pakistan’s Hannah Hussain donned a beautiful light pink gown embellished with intricate designed florals. Embroidered flowers and leaves in shades of blue and pink glittered from her corset and trailed over to the top of the gown. Her corset was bound with petal-shaped fabric draped together to create sea-shell shaped cups for the stunning gardenesque look designed by Georges Hobeika and Elie Saab.Â
Hussain, a descendant of prominent Indian and Pakistani governmental leaders, is the first debutante to be invited from her nation. Harper’s Bazaar Arabia details that her political lineage starts from her great-great grandfather Sir Faizal Hussain, a former education minister of India, founder of the Unionist Party and revolutionary lawyer. Her great-grandfather was an ambassador for Pakistan to Beirut, Lebanon.Â
Hussain went viral in an Instagram reel created by Lara Cosina, another debutante. In this video, we see the young ladies showing off their enchanting outfits, to the French song, fully encaptivating the audience in the magic of a real-life version of a fantasy debutante ball. Cosina also uploaded this video of her father-daughter dance during the evening.Â
Lara Cosina is a Austro-German Countess, descendant of political leaders during the Industrial Revolution. Her huge TikTok presence is the opposite of Hussain. While Hussain has a limited presence on social media, Cosina uses hers to build a platform for fashion, luxury and lifestyle. She is an intern at Dior, and often shows off her luxurious lifestyle in historic palaces and sceneries. Known for her “fairytale” or “cottage-core” aesthetic, Cosina’s short platinum blonde hair, pale complexion and ethereal looks are a fan favorite.
Her look, designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier, features gold beaded embroidery intertwined with gray tulle fabric creating a beautiful top, featuring a heart shape on her ribcage and transparent rolls of layered tulle fabric, draping her gown out behind her.
The girls not only had people shocked by the occurrence of modern day debutante balls, but also had jewelry-aficionados fascinated, excited to dig into the history of the jewels the girls wore.Â
Julia Chafe is a jeweler with a family business which inspired her to create her Instagram and TikTok platforms on histories behind celebrity accessories. She created an in-depth series featuring iconic pieces worn by the girls, such as this emerald necklace worn by Hussain, with history from the 1810s in Italy, to France, to England and eventually popping up at the 2023 ball.Â
Another debutante featured on her series is Indian business mogul-heiress Advaitesha Birla and her diamond necklace with a history dating to 1778. According to Chafe, previous owners include Charles Ferdenand, the daughter of Marie Antoinette, and Princess Isabel de Croy, Archduchess of Austria. After being sold for 575,000 U.S. dollars, it found a new home with the Birlas.Â
Advaitesha’s look featured a stunning red body-con gown. She not only rocks an amazing outfit but is also an inspiration to many. According to YourStory, the nonprofit organization she founded at 18 called Ujaas aims to bring menstrual health awareness to India. She has launched workshops for menstrual education programs aimed to reduce stigma surrounded by generations of cultural shaming. Her company also provides free sanitary napkins to communities.Â
While this ball was a huge success and brought in many people fascinated with luxurious ways of the elite, it also created a place for people to raise awareness of causes like Advaistesha’s, and supported fundraisers. These young ladies are not only rich socialites, but empowered, ambitious individuals using their platform to raise awareness and compose beautiful communities in their own niches. We are definitely looking forward to their achievements!
