Le Bal des Débutantes 2025

 

 

In which the daughters of celebrities mix with aristocrats and princesses at a traditional event. From Vogue:

Anticipation for this year’s Le Bal des Débutantes—known simply as Le Bal—had been mounting for weeks on TikTok, with no shortage of videos decoding what to expect. The renowned, invite-only debutante ball is akin to the Met Gala for haute couture-wearing teenagers, scions, heiresses, and royals, and the latest edition held at the Marie Antoinette-worthy Shangri-La Paris hotel on Saturday evening did not disappoint in the old world glamour stakes.

As per usual, the debs and their families landed in the city during Thanksgiving week in order to prepare for the event, practice their dancing, and select their diamond jewelry from V Muse. This year, Carolina Lansing—granddaughter of designer Carolina Herrera—made her debut with her little brother Magnus Lansing serving as her cavalier. For the big moment, she opted for a floor-length strapless black and white polka dot gown with a bell-shaped skirt, bow, and a matching sash designed by Wes Gordon, creative director of the Carolina Herrera label. Lansing revealed that she met with her grandmother for advice on the gown too. “We ended up paying homage to my grandmother’s first runway collection,” she told Vogue. “That collection featured a lot of polka dots, so we decided to do black and white with a low waist and ruching, and a big bow because it felt very ’Carolina.’ There’s a lot going on, but it is also very elegant and simple at the same time.” Lansing teamed the gown with a ribbon choker with an antique diamond and sapphire brooch. “The pin immediately reminded me of my grandfather when I saw it, and he just recently passed away in March,” she said. By the end of the night, her brother ended up jokingly wearing her bow as a supersized bowtie.

Attending Le Bal is an established tradition amongst celebrity offspring, with Lily Collins, Margaret Qualley, Apple Martin, Ava Philippe, and Scout Willis among those who have stepped out in the past. This time around, Bronwyn Golden Vance—whose parents are actors Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance—was ready for her close-up. The Harvard student helped kicked off the festivities in the rococo-style ballroom with an opening daughter-father dance. Vance glided across the dance floor in an ivory tulle confection with flecks of gilded details, designed by French haute couturier Stéphane Rolland. Like Lansing, she called upon her sibling to be her cavalier, with her twin brother Slater Vance taking up the task. “I think Le Bal is about being in a space with successful women who are around my age from all over the world–it’s very rare that you can share such a beautiful night with accomplished young girls who are slowly reaching adulthood,” Vance said ahead of the event. “It's a moment to cherish friendships with women who have similar aspirations in life. But yet we are all so different, so it’s a chance to blossom and meet a lot of new people, which I feel like a lot of people don’t get to do. I feel very blessed that I have this opportunity.” (Read more.)

 

Featured at Le Bal were the Churchill emeralds. From Tatler:

What does one wear to Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris when one’s father is the 12th Duke of Marlborough? Couture by Armani and a diamond necklace once worn by your ancestor to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, of course. Few jewels possess the history or pedigree of the emerald-and-diamond piece adorning the neck of Tatler cover star Lady Araminta Spencer-Churchill.

For Lady Araminta, wearing the necklace – loaned from Le Bal jeweller V Muse – marks not only her debut into society but her place within the Churchill family history. Its appearance at Le Bal des Débutantes, held at the Shangri-La hotel in Paris, links her directly to generations of Spencer-Churchill women who wore the piece at pivotal moments in their own public lives. (Read more.)

Many tiaras could be seen. Also from Tatler:

Eulalia de Orleans-Borbón is the daughter of businessman Álvaro de Orleans-Borbón (himself a distant cousin of King Juan Carlos, who is Eulalia's godfather) and descends from several of Europe’s royal houses; her great-grandmother was Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of the Tsar, who married Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Queen Victoria.

Already an accomplished influencer with 13,000 followers, the 19-year-old is currently studying economics and finance at St Andrews in Fife – that favourite university of royals the world over – and speaks six languages. In the ultimate meeting of two grand royal houses, Eulalia was accompanied to Le Bal by Albert Windsor: the grandson of the Duke of Kent and late Duchess of Kent, who made his debut as the royal family's newest eligible bachelor when he was crowned the hottest young singleton in Britain in Tatler's annual Little Black Book in October.

Naturally, the Princess was the epitome of regal glamour in an embellished, haute couture gown by Lebanese designer Tony Ward, which featured a low neckline and a dramatic train. The perfect partner for such a dress? The sweeping lines of the Fleur-de-lys Tiara, made by Viennese jeweller Moritz Hübner in 1912, are inlaid with ancient diamonds that were originally set in the Order of the Holy Spirit, awarded by King Charles X of France.

Superbly presented, the three large, fleur-de-lys motifs can also be detached and worn separately as brooches. Passed down through the Bourbon family, this tiara once belonged to Princess Maria Anna of Parma and served as the ideal finishing touch for Princess Eulalia's look. (Read more.)

Read more HERE and HERE.