Bal des débutantes

The original ball started as a social event and was first held in the Orangery of the Château de Versailles on 10 July 1958. There were fifty debutantes, all of which were American.^[2] For the ball of 1959, permission to use the Orangery came from André Malraux; the event was financed by the fashion and perfume houses of Paris. A hundred and fifty young women took part.^[3] The event was not held in 1968 due to the May 68 worker uprising in France, and it was subsequently canceled.^[4]

The ball was revived in 1992 by Ophélie Renouard as a fashion event when she worked at the Hôtel de Crillon.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} From 1992 to 2012, it took place every year at the Hôtel de Crillon,^[10][11] and thus was often called the Crillon Ball. Since the location is currently not fixed, the event is now referred to simply as le Bal.^[12]

The event also serves as a fundraiser. From 2009 to 2019, it supported Enfants d'Asie, an organization which provides education for girls in Southeast Asia.^[13] In 2022, it supported the ARCFA (Association pour la Recherche en Cardiologie du Fœtus à l'Adulte) of the Necker–Enfants Malades Hospital and the World Central Kitchen.^[14]

The debutantes often come from families known in European aristocracy, entertainment, business, or politics, and they are selected by Renouard.^[15][10] From 2000 to 2003, le Bal welcomed a winner from a contest held by the French magazine Jalouse every year. Each winner was chosen based on a submitted application.^[16] Other debutantes have been famous in their own right; a few years ago, Lauren Marbe – the daughter of a cab driver in the UK whose IQ exceeded Einstein's – and (in 2015) Olivia Hallisey – an American high schooler who won the first prize of the Google Science Fair for inventing a test for the Ebola virus – debuted.^[17] In 2022, Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu attended le Bal^[18] after winning two gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics.^[19]

Each debutante is escorted by a cavalier. The cavalier may be a young man of the debutante's choosing, such as a brother, cousin, friend, or boyfriend. However, nearly half of the debutantes, particularly those travelling from abroad, don't bring their own cavalier; they rely instead on the organizers of le Bal to find them a cavalier.^[20] The organizer, Renouard, has stated that they choose the cavaliers based on their ages, the languages they speak, their heights, and possibly their backgrounds to produce an optimal match for the debutantes.^[21]

The ball introduces the world of high fashion to its invited debutantes, who are usually the daughters of well-known families. It can also be seen as an opportunity for fashion houses to achieve brand exposure.^[21][23]

The young women wear haute couture dresses by European designers^[24] and overseas fashion houses. They all wear jewelry from the same jeweler.^[25] Some couture houses have produced special ball gowns for the event. In 2003, Carolina Herrera made one for Diana Mellon, and in 2014, Danish designer Jesper Hovring made a dress for Viola Mikkelsen.^[26] In 2018, the Indo-French fashion house Lecoanet Hemant made a gown for Princess Ananya Raje Scindia of Gwalior.^[27] Jet Li's daughter Jane Li was dressed by Dior in 2019.^[28]

In 2008, French actor Jean Rochefort's daughter Clémence made her debut wearing a Nina Ricci ball gown.^[29] Anna Cleveland van Ravenstein, on the other hand, had been modeling for Chanel for years before "Uncle" Karl Lagerfeld helped her to pick out a vintage gown for le Bal.^[30]

The ball takes place on a Saturday, but preparations include meeting the debutantes, their families and their cavaliers in advance.^[31]

On the eve of le Bal, a Friday, the debutantes come together for the first time. Makeup and hair styling sessions start at 9:00 am, with By Terry for makeup^[32] and with Alexandre de Paris for hair.^[33] After this, the debutantes put on their dresses, long gloves, shoes,^[34] and jewels, and there are individual and group photo sessions^[35] which last for the rest of the day.^[31] On Friday evening, the debutantes' fathers and cavaliers are offered a waltz class with two dance teachers.^[31]

The debutantes are introduced in alphabetical order on the arms of their cavaliers^[31] by journalist and author Stéphane Bern.^[36] Then the dinner is served.^[37] After dinner, the debutantes who are the most followed by the media open le Bal, followed by all of the fathers with their daughters.^[37][38]