Saturday, 28th of November
Adler Jewellers joins the Crillon Hotel to host the débuts of 24 young girls from around the world.
For the nineteenth consecutive year, Ophélie Renouard, the founder of the ball, unites haute couture, international fashion houses, Adler the jeweller of the ball, and twenty four new debs and their cavaliers for a magical evening at the Crillon Hotel.
The purpose of the ball is to raise funds for charity. This year, the evening is for the benefit of Enfants d'Asie, a humanitarian charity that promotes women’s education in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines. The new debs have the opportunity to work as volunteers in Southeast Asia with Enfants d'Asie.
This international event is the only French débutante ball. It opens with the presentation of the young ladies, followed by a dinner and then the ball itself.
Each of the new debs is wearing a dress from a different couture house, and are all adorned with jewellery by Adler, the jeweller of the ball.
The new debs of 2009 are from twelve different countries including the United States, Russia, India, China, the Philippines...and this year for the first time, from Venezuela and Australia. They are aged between sixteen and twenty and are accompanied by their chosen cavaliers.
The five French new debs:
Johanna Piaton de Turckheim, 18, is the youngest of the three daughters of comedian and scriptwriter Charlotte de Turckheim, who is a patron of the Enfants d'Asie Association, for whom Johanna has just volunteered for a month in Cebu in the Philippines. For le Bal, Johanna is wearing a dress by Elie Saab haute couture.
Alix de Gramont, 16, lives in Santa Barbara, California with her family. Alix is dressed by John Galliano.
Marie-Victoire de Kergorlay is the daughter of Count and Countess Denis de Kergorlay. She has chosen a dress signed Hervé Léger by MaxAzria.
Victoria Frey is the granddaughter of Président Charles de Gaulle's minister Roger Frey. She is wearing a Balmain haute couture dress from Didier Ludot, the king of vintage!
For Pandora Pearson, the ball is almost a family affair: she is wearing an haute couture gown by Christian Lacroix, a close friend of her mother.
The three English new debs:
Lady Kitty Spencer, 18, is the daughter of Earl Spencer, Diana Princess of Wales’s brother. She is the immediate cousin of William, the future king of England. Kitty lives in South Africa with her mother, brothers and sisters. The London based designer Bruce Oldfield made her gown for le Bal.
Angelica Hicks is the great-granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten. Her grandfather, David Hicks, passed down his passion for interior design to her father, Ashley. Angelica is Italian on her mother Allegra's side, who is a fashion designer. She is wearing Lanvin.
Carinthia Pearson is passionate about horses, like the rest of her family. She lives in Cowdray castle, a favourite place of polo players in England. She is 16 and is dressed by the 'oh-so-British' Alexander McQueen !
Four Americans are here tonight:
Francesca Eastwood, 16, is the daughter of Frances Fisher and Clint Eastwood, a favourite actor and director of the French. For le Bal, she is wearing a dress specially created for her by the Italian duo Dolce & Gabbana, in the same turquoise as her eyes.
Dakota Warde-Levie is Francesca’s childhood friend. Their families have been linked for several generations. Dakota is dressed by Oscar de la Renta.
Autumn Whitaker is the oldest of the three daughters of Forest and Keisha Whitaker. She has abandoned her guitar for the night, to wear a creation from the young Taiwanese stylist Jason Wu, known for dressing Michelle Obama for the Presidential inauguration party.
Jane Aldridge at just 17, is already well known among the followers of fashion blogs, with whom she shares her passion for shoes! Her dress is signed by Chanel haute couture.
The three Italian new debs:
Virginia Tournon is the oldest daughter of writer Benedetta Cibrario, who won the prestigious Campiello literary prize in 2008. She is dressed by Versace.
Cosima Sarno-Pigozzi is the granddaughter of the creator of the Simca automobile brand, the daughter of the commodore Gustavo Sarno and writer-journalist Caroline Pigozzi. Her ball gown is signed Stéphane Rolland haute couture.
Antonella de Lutio is 17 and wants to be a diplomat like her father, the Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia. For the ball, she has chosen a gown from the Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad.
The two young girls from China :
Ariel Ho-Kjaer is the youngest deb here tonight, having just turned 16. Her mother is Chinese, her father is Danish and her grandfather Stanley Ho founded Macau, the gambling empire. Ariel usually spends more time wearing ice-skates than shoes, but she looks divine in her Dior haute couture dress.
Jasmine Li has been studying in New York for a few years. She has chosen a dress by Carolina Herrera and her parents and brother are here this evening for her Parisian début.
Nathalia Zobel is from the Philippines: her cousin Paloma did le Bal last year. Nathalia is very active in the Association Enfants d'Asie which has a base in her country. She chose her first haute couture dress from the Dominique Sirop collection.
Tatiana Shin-Botin is the worthy representative of Spain. She hails from a banking family and her grandmother founded the Music College of Queen Sofia in Madrid. Her father is of Korean origin. Her gown is made by the Singapore-born, Paris-based designer Andrew Gn.
The first ever Venezuelan deb is Victoria Aristeguieta Garcia-Lujan. She came specially from Caracas and is dressed by her NYC-based compatriot, Angel Sanchez.
Sasha Novikova is the Russian new deb. She lives and studies in England, and is becoming rather English! Sasha thinks that every Haute Couture house has a suitable creation for her, and she selected a vintage Carven one, from Didier Ludot.
The first Indian Princess to participate in le Bal, Adishree Singh is a descendant of the last Maharadja of Jammu and Cashmere. Adishree studies at the Pearson School of design in New York. She has chosen a dress from the Indian creator Ritu Beri, considered the first lady of fashion in her country.
Australia is represented this year for the first time by Georgina Robertson. She lives in London with her mother, the writer Kathy Lette and her father the civil rights lawyer George Robertson. She has chosen to wear a creation by a fellow Australian, Collette Dinnigan.
The Turkish debutante, Aslişah Alkoçlar has also chosen a couturier from her own country: Cengiz Abazoglu. Aslişah is on the Turkish national ski team. She came to the ball because of her connection with the Adlers, the jewellers of the ball.
The new debs have their make-up done by MAC and their hair styled by Alexandre de Paris.
Since 1998, Stéphane Bern, the master of ceremonies, has undertaken the delicate task of presenting these young girls and their cavaliers in both French and English
For four years now, a couturier has designed the ball invitation. Christian Lacroix was first, followed by the British designer Vivienne Westwood and then Elie Saab in 2008.
This year, the illustration is from Lanvin, by Albert Elbaz .
Infiniti Europe will be the Automotive partner chauffeuring the Débs through the Parisian streets.
PRESS CONTACT:
Bureau Ophélie Renouard
Telephone: 33 1 40 08 44 25 / Fax: 33 1 40 08 44 27
Email: contact@leBal.fr
Site: www.leBal.fr