Meet a group of glamorous young debutantes with a lot more than marriage on their minds. 66 Go green in 2019 with camouflage hues, from sage to moss, plucked straight from the jackets of army uniforms
You might think the age of the aristocratic marriage market is long gone, and you’d be right, but not that of the debutante ball. Melissa Twigg meets a cohort of glamorous young women with a lot more than marriage on their minds
Who’d have thought a debutante ball would be a hotbed of feminism? Traditionally, these glittering events were designed to introduce well-born young women into society to attract suitable husbands, so they weren’t exactly the apex of equality and female empowerment. But try telling that to the 19 young women who recently made their debuts in Paris at le Bal des Débutantes, a glamorous group of lawyers, doctors, journalists and actresses all possessed of a sense of destiny and a desire to play a role in changing the world.
“All the girls were down-to-earth and friendly. All of them attended top universities, so it’s a group of girls who are privileged but also work really hard”
“Oh, I definitely think it’s feminist. It’s about celebrating female talent—and we all care more about what we’re doing professionally or educationally than the way we look. And it’s just fun,” said True Whitaker, a willowy American journalism student who opened the night’s dancing with her father, Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, in the ornate ballroom of the Shangri-la Paris.
Le Bal, as it’s known, was a delicious spectacle to witness. Earlier, standing in the ballroom a few hours before Forest and her confrères were to be presented to Parisian society, my eyes drank in the old-world beauty of the venue and the lavishly dressed young women, whose lace, velvet and silk skirts were strewn across the Louis XV furniture on which they were posing, looking for all the world as if they had just fallen out of a fairy tale.
Rather than seeking Prince Charming, though, these beautiful women had more on their minds than boys, brands and beauty products. They had spent the whole afternoon discussing modern politics. But more than their gold-plated CVS, political awareness and multilingual skill, I was impressed by how generous they were with one another. Women have been taught for centuries to eye each other up as potential competition. In covering similar events in the past, I have seen how this can quickly turn to infighting, and I have no doubt that had I been a deb at 18, I would have been anxiously wondering whether I was as pretty and slim as my peers.
There was none of that when these debutantes gathered at the Shangri-la, formerly the Palais Iéna, built in 1896 as the home of Prince Roland Bonaparte. Instead, throughout their preparation, training and photo shoots, the women kept stopping to admire one another’s clothes and to teach each other poses, keeping up a non-stop stream of easy compliments.
At one point, the wonderfully confident Julia Mccaw, daughter of US telecoms tycoon Craig Mccaw, attempted a ballet-like pose on a mantelpiece, one slender leg hanging precariously in the air as her Giambattista Valli gown floated around her. Half the girls were in hysterics, while the other half were documenting the moment in awe, with at least five shots uploaded to separate Instagram accounts. Envy, it seems, has gone the way of CD players and Blockbuster.
It is hard to look at these beautiful young women in their haute couture gowns and not long to spend a day in their designer shoes. Since le Bal des Débutantes was launched in 1992 by the French PR maven Ophélie Renouard, it has become the most coveted gala of its kind among the daughters of European aristocrats, Asian tycoons and American business and showbiz types. A number of debutante balls take place around the world, from Queen Charlotte’s Ball in London to the Vienna Opera Ball, but le Bal remains the pinnacle.
This is partly because it is strictly by invitation only, and it’s the only one that requires debutantes to don couture gowns— with the debs and designers matched by Ophélie—paired with jewellery by Payal New York. Add to that the old-world style of Parisian palaces like the Shangri-la, and you’ve got the kind of party that drowns its guests in glamour and gossip.
The event also raises money for two charities that support women, continuing the feminist theme. Participating families are asked to make donations to the Seleni Institute, a non-profit organisation that helps women and teenage mothers deal with mental health issues, and Enfants d’asie, a humanitarian association that promotes the education of girls and women in Southeast Asia.
On their big night in the Shangri-la’s stunning ballroom, where the gilt mirrors and Louis XV furniture battled for the limelight with vases overflowing with pink peonies, the young women shone. Presented by radio and television host Stéphane Bern, they wended their way confidently and elegantly through the tables on the arms of handsome cavaliers.
The 19 debutantes came from eight countries, reflecting the diversity of the new global elite. Mainland China’s Annabel Yao, a 21-yearold Harvard computer science student and ballerina, is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. “All the girls were down-toearth and friendly. No one was pretentious,” said Annabel, who was dressed in pale pink J Mendel on the night. “All of them attended top universities like Stanford, Brown and Columbia,
“It’s so uplifting to see debs here of all ethnicities from around the world. We all have our own aspirations for the future, and I believe we can help shape it”
so it’s a group of girls who are privileged but also work really hard.”
Flying the flag for Hong Kong was Angel Lee, a University of Hong Kong student whose father is Robert Lee, an avid art collector with a keen eye for 18th- and 19th-century French and Italian pieces. “This is my first time in Europe, and what a way to experience it,” said Angel, who was wearing a delicate pale blue Dorian Ho dress as she took the arm of her cavalier, Edouard Lanvin of the famous French couture family. “I am so proud to be here representing Hong Kong. It is such a privilege. I want all my new friends from Le Bal to come and visit Hong Kong.”
One firm friend in the making was Gabrielle de Pourtalès from France. Her aristocratic family might have fled the French Revolution, but this young beauty in Dior had not the slightest hint of hauteur, chatting enthusiastically about her job in Hong Kong, where she promotes the wines of Bordeaux. Her ancestors had probably known those of another descendant of aristocracy present, Ludmilla von Oppenheim, a law student from Germany who lives in London and switches smoothly between four languages as she talks to her new friends.
Also from Asia was Kayla Uytengsu, the daughter of Alaska Milk Corp CEO Wilfred Steven Uytengsu. The Filipina wore a beautiful gown by Italian couturier Antonio Grimaldi. She became firm friends with the three debutantes from India—ananya Raje Scindia, whose family once ruled Gwalior; Shloka Birla, whose family owns the Aditya Birla Group; and Aria Mehta, daughter of Payal Mehta, who designs the jewellery for le Bal’s debutantes.
The Americans were also out in force. Juliet Gordy James, granddaughter of Motown record label founder Berry Gordy, is a young woman who is going places. Her exquisite Elie Saab gown had a full princess skirt, and she oozed such cool confidence that everyone remarked on her star quality. Quite right, too, as the young actress had just started shooting a Netflix television series, so expect to see her on your screens in the near future.
Another scene-stealer was Julia Mccaw, who floated through the room on the arm of her former boyfriend Harper Peck, a young man with a notable resemblance to his late grandfather, the actor Gregory Peck. When asked if it was a little awkward attending the ball with her ex, Julia, who has moved to Paris for the year, laughed it off with the confidence of a woman twice her age. “He’s lovely, but we’re friends for now,” she said. “There are a few French boys on the scene, anyway.”
Another cavalier with a famous antecedent was Giacomo Belmondo (his grandfather was the French actor Jean-paul Belmondo), who escorted True Whitaker in her Jean Paul Gaultier dress to admiring whoops of approval from her father. Later, when the two Whitakers opened the dance, the look of paternal adoration on Forest’s face left a few of the spectators misty-eyed.
And then there was Elizabeth Starling Louis, the granddaughter of the US ambassador to the UK during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. She looked like a young Grace Kelly in her structured Ralph & Russo Couture gown and carefully curled vintage hairstyle.
“This is an experience like no other,” she said. “It’s a wonderful celebration of modern womanhood. It’s not like the marriage markets of the past, as we’re not wearing white dresses or pretending to be anything we’re not. The recent mid-term elections in the US, where more women ran than ever before, really inspired me. It’s so uplifting to see debs here of all ethnicities from around the world. We all have our own aspirations for the future, and I really believe we can help shape it.”
Her words felt particularly important on that cold November evening, as the day of le Bal also saw the first of a series of violent Saturday protests against French President Emmanuel Macron. The so-called gilet jaunes (yellow vests) protest movement tore through the streets of Paris, leaving a trail of burning cars, smashed windows and clouds of tear gas.
As the couture-clad debs waltzed in the Shangri-la ballroom, it could have felt like a Marie Antoinette moment—but it didn’t. These young women were all so astute, so politically aware and so thoughtful, they gave me hope for the future.