Julia Restoin-Roitfeld was 21 years old when she made her stunning debut at Le Bal des Débutantes which takes place annually at Hôtel de Crillon. Mademoiselle Julia was presented to society wearing a leopard print dress by Versace and accompanied by Antoine de Moussac, also of France. I think her departure from the traditional demure white gown works brilliantly; note as well that she opted for a bunch of flowers behind one ear rather than the clichéd tiara. What do you think of Julia's debutante look?
Below is a list of the young women that descended the staircase along with Julia in 2001 with details for each of the debutantes including her country of origin, her escort, his country of origin, and the designer of her gown for the ball. Read The Story of the Ball on the official web site for more about the evolution of this fascinating tradition over the years.
Les "Nouvelles Débutantes" 2001
et leurs Cavaliers
et leurs Maisons de Couture
Barbara Berlusconi, Italy
SAS Prince Dimitri della Torre e Tasso, Italy
Chanel
Laurence de Bourbon-Busset, France
Antoine de Vulpillières, France
Pierre Balmain
SAS Princesse Paola Orleans e Bragança Sapieha, Brazil
Paul de Ponton d'Amécourt, France
Gaultier Paris
Gwenolée de Carmoy, France
Tristan de Silguy, France
Pierre Cardin
Laxmi Dalamal, India
Bharat Singh, India
Lecoanet Hemant
Comtesse Marie-Catherine Douglas, Germany
Charles de Chabaneix, France
Hanae Mori
Kaya Endo, Japan
Gonzague Requillart, France
Louis Feraud
Pilar Fernandez-Susino, Spain
Fernando Ramos de Lucas, Spain
Jean-Louis Scherrer
Amanda Hearst, United States
Charles d'Arcy Irvine, Ireland
Carolina Herrera
Lydia Hearst-Shaw, United States
Matthew Armstrong, United States
Thierry Mugler
Aleksandra Kwasniewska, Poland
Alexis de Béchade, France
Ewa Minge
Mélanie Mallet, France
Geoffroy de Boissieu, France
Yves Saint Laurent
Amélie de Mony-Pajol, France
Adrien de Mony-Pajol, France
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
Julie-Chloé Mougeolle, France
Mathieu Bellahsen, France
Seredin & Vassillev
Violet Naylor-Leyland, United Kingdom
Tom Naylor-Leyland, United Kingdom
Bruce Oldfield
Cleo Pakenham, United Kingdom
David Hogan Hern, United Kingdom
Neil Cunningham
Carolina Partheni-Angelopoulos, Greece
Paul Charles Ricard, France
Givenchy
Olivia Peiretti-Paradisi, Monaco
Victor Leclercq, Monaco
Franck Sorbier
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, France
Antoine de Moussac, France
Versace
Marquise Laura Serra, Italy
Charles de Nervaux, France
Valentino
Sarah Taylor, United Kingdom
Johnny Weinberg, United Kingdom
Vivienne Westwood
Vanessa Traina, United States
Olivier de la Ferrière, France
Christian Dior
Victoria Traina, United States
Duarte Eca de Queiroz Correira de Campos, Portugal
Christian Lacroix
Marie de Villepin, France
Thomas Pallardy, France
Emanuel Ungaro
All of the debutantes are wearing jewelry provided by Mikimoto.
Julia Restoin-Roitfeld debutante photographs courtesy of lebal.fr and Fashion Spot