A beautiful Story

                                                             “le Bal” forges long lasting bonds between young women and men from a dozen countries.                                                               They celebrate youth, excellence, the empowerment of women and the harmony of nations.

The event culturally links and harkens to the 18th century English tradition of the débutante ball, wherein the young ladies were introduced in society, curtsying to HM the Queen, wearing white gowns, white gloves and tiaras.

In France the traditional débutante ball started in 1957 and ended in 1973.

In 1994, Ophélie Renouard invented a modern version that she named “le Bal”, with a purpose to raise money for children ‘s hospitals.

Each year, Ophélie Renouard brings together about only 20 vibrant young women and their cavaliers. The cavaliers wear white tie, and the couture and haute couture houses each dress a Deb for the event – the only Charity ball in the world where the Debs wear haute couture and couture.

One cannot buy tickets to attend or pay to take part in “le Bal” in Paris. It is the only débutante ball in the world which is “by invitation only”.

“Le Bal” is a diplomatic event of sorts. The Debs and cavaliers and their families bring together movers and shakers from cultures and walks of life around the globe.

The guests come together to celebrate the Debs and their cavaliers, and to help some less fortunate souls in so doing.

The event’s modern and international image has been established by Debs and Cavaliers such as:
The Imperial Highnesses: TIH Princesse and Prince Victoria-Louise and Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, TIRH Archduchess Sophia and Archduchess Ildiko von Habsbourg-Lorraine and their brother TIRH Archduke Karl-Konstantin.

The Royal Highnesses: TRH Princesses and Princes Isabelle, Helene, Louise, Philippe and Constantin d’Orleans; Aude, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Zita, Amaury, Henri and Michel de Bourbon Parme; Charlotte, Paul-Louis and Leopold de Nassau; Maria Francisca, Dinis and Afonso de Bragança; Fawzia Latifa and Mohamed Ali of Egypt; Lorenza, Livia and Wenceslas de Liechtenstein; Lady Amelia Windsor; Mr Albert Windsor; Luis de Borbon; Eugenia de Bourbon;
Eulalia d’Orleans Bourbon.

The Princesses and Princes: Eugenia von Hohenzollern Sigmaringen; Alexis Obolensky; Gauravi Kumari and Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur; Adishree Singh; Ananya Raje and Yuvraj Mahanaaryamanrao J. Scindia of Gwalior; Akshita Bhanjdeo; Hari Alexander de Kalsia; Costanza, Dimitri and Maximilian della Torre e Tasso; Caroline von Thurn and Taxis; Theodore Ruspoli; Fabrizia, Francesco, Pietro and Vittorio Ruffo di Calabria; Anastasia and Costanza Pallavicini della Vittoria; Lavinia and Gregorio Boncompagni Ludovisi, Giacomo Leone Massimo Brancaccio; Lodovico Corsini; Natalia and Irina Strozzi; Ashley Poniatowski; Philippe-Emmanuel and Jean de Croÿ-Solre; Alexandra de Croÿ-Roeulx; Raphaël de Luynes; Anne-Hélène, Natasha and Alexandre d’Arenberg; Alexia and Emilia von Auersperg-Breunner; Larissa Windisch Graetz; Désirée zu Hohenlohe; Nina and Dimitris Soutzo; Tamara Czartoyski-Borbon; Sarah Poniatowska; Xenia Troubetzkoï; Paola Orleans e Bragança Sapieha; Lulu Mubarak Al Sabah; Lissie Sellassie and Christine and Alexandre Sturdza.

The aristocrats: Barons and Baronness Isabelle, Nicholas and Felix von Perfall; Countesses Anna, Tatiana and Count Pierre de Pahlen; Countesses Gloria and Angélique and Counts François and Gaspard de Limburg Stirum; Ladies; Bélen Domecq; Marie de Rohan Chabot; Marie-Solène d’Harcourt; Gabrielle de Pourtales; Countess Lavinia Borromeo; Countess Bianca Brandolini d’Adda; Countess Filippa and Count Brando Brandolini d’Adda; Marquis Giorgio Sanjust di Teulada; Marquis Aloisio Carrassi del Villar; Baron Karl-Theodor von & zu Guttenberg; Duke de Crussol; Amina and Luis Martinez de Irujo y Casanova; Tomás Terry y González de Gregorio; Count Grégoire Tolstoï; Countess Stephanie Von Bismark;

Nicoletta Consolo-Romanoff; Counts and Countesses Nicolas, Ivan, Alexia and Isabel Quirot de Poligny. Thomas and Gabrielle Janssens de Balkany. Jo Bamford; Ladies Araminta Spencer Churchill, Kitty Spencer, Tatiana Mountbatten, Philippa Cadogan; Sybilla and Natasha Rufus Isaacs.

The Debs who are known by their own achievements at a very young age: Eileen Gu; Leah Behn; Olivia Hallisey; Jane Aldridge; Yu Hang, Anna Cleveland, Eden Leprevost Blin Lebreton, Yasmine Yen and Angelina Jordan.

The daughters, sons and grandchildren of artists, writers and celebrities: Slater and Bronwyn Bassett-Vance; Jillian K Chan; Ethan, Daniel and Angel Zhang; Wenhao Cai; Olivia and Anna Peï; Jane Li; Apple Martin; Lucia Ponti; Lily Collins; Eva Rice; Maïa Twombly; Ananya and Rysa Pandey; Shanaya Kapoor; Stella, Alessandro, Victor and Giacomo Belmondo; Anouchka Delon; Clémence Rochefort; Emilie and David Jarre; Annabelle Zimmer; Victoria, Cristina and Niccolo Iglesias; Daniela Figo; Harumi and Anna Klossowska de Rola; Hikari, Izumi, Yuki and Ben Mori; Viola Mikkelsen; Anna Wallenberg; Duarte Eça de Queiroz Correia de Campos; Noema and Klio Kosuth; Zara Beard; Scout and Tallulah Willis; Francesca Eastwood; Autumn and True Whitaker; Dree Hemingway; Vanessa and Victoria Traina; Rainsford and Margaret Qualley; Isabel and Ella Beatty; Billie Lourd; Bee Shaffer; Bronwen Carter; Lori Harvey; Juliet Gordy; Romy David; Ava Phillippe; Sophia-Rose Stallone; Harper and Ondine Peck; Natasha Connery and Countess Lara-Cosima Henckel von Donnersmarck.

The daughters, sons and grandchildren of politicians: Barbara Berlusconi; Lauren and Ashley Bush; Kathleen and Kyra Kennedy; Ksénia and Anastasia Gorbacheva; Elisabeth Senghor; Xiaodan Chen; Bao-Bao Wan; Marie and Arthur de Villepin.

The daughters and sons and grandchildren of industrialists and financiers: Sarah and James Bae; Alice Wang; Reagan Sacks; Isha Ambani; Advaitesha and Aryaman Birla; Laila Blavatnik; Annabel Yao; Lara Lau; Ariel Ho-Kjaer; Veronika and Vivian Chou; Zoë Springer; Countesses Victoria and Sarah von Faber Castell; Julia Puig; Victoria Mestre-Cisneros; Katherine and Anya Embiricos; Margherita Missoni; Gaïa and Francesco Trussardi; Paloma, Monica, Nathalia, Rocio and Jaime Zobel de Ayala; Kareen and Natalia Fares; Jason Schwarz; Amanda and Lydia Hearst; Remy and Rose Fisher; Julia, Skye, Ella and Paris McCaw; Kayla Rockefeller; Juliet and Zachary Dell; Diana, Angela, Sarah and Araminta Mellon; Eleanor and Olivia Ford-Uzielli; Segolène Frère; Marion, Tessa, Olympia and Alexandre Taittinger; Sophie Guerlain; Diane and Chloé Bouygues; David Wertheimer; Delphine and Antoine Arnault.

Ophélie Renouard

Ophelie Renouard has an international background that is reflected in le Bal. Born in Saigon to French parents, who returned to Paris when she was 10 years old, she spent summers in San Francisco with her American godparents. Ophelie now manages her time between Europe, the US and Asia.

After graduating from the Sorbonne with a degree in psychology, she began working in 1991 for the Taittinger family hotel group, in charge of the events. In 1994, she created, “le Bal” at the hotel de Crillon.
Since 2012, after the Taittinger family sold their group, she has continued to organize “le Bal” through her own enterprise.