The Paris Olympics is almost upon us and with the Opening Ceremony mere hours away, excitement is building. Royalty, world-class athletes and the social elite are jetting into France for the event. Yet of love is already filled with It , all of whom radiate a certain .
Here, let Tatler introduce you to the real stars of Paris...
There isn’t anyone worth knowing in Paris who doesn’t want to be in the orbit of Fanny Bourdette-Donon, the international PR and special projects manager for Dior Beauty. The French-born influencer is well travelled, and spent her childhood country-hopping in Africa before studying in both Paris and LA. These days, she’s still never in one place for long: catch her (if you can) attending the French Open, holidaying at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc or promoting the Dior spa in Sicily.
Where Fanny goes, the paparazzi often follow; after all, when your best friend is Bella Hadid, what can you expect? Luxury fashion is in the blood for Mathilde Pinault, the daughter of Kering’s chairman, François-Henri. And while brands are clamouring to dress the glamorous Parisian socialite, ‘Tildie’, as she’s known to her friends, spends most of her time in the stables with her horse, Dali – as you’d expect of the 2022 Longines Global Championships Tour winner, who is an ambassador for French equestrian brand, Dada Sport, and one day hopes to make it to the Olympics. When she’s not riding out, Mathilde spends her time at catwalk shows (she favours Kering brands, naturally; find her at Gucci and Balenciaga) and popping to Cabo for a spot of sun with her step-mother, Salma Hayek.
Iman Perez is as well-connected in Paris as it’s possible to be: the daughter of actor Vincent Perez, she counts director Luc Besson as her uncle and Roxane Depardieu (the daughter of legendary actor, Gerard) as her half-sister. She became the city’s most sought-after It girl when she attended Les Bal des Debutantes in 2015, wearing sea green, silky Jean Paul Gaultier – the fashion house for which, incidentally, she is a muse. But don’t call this society beauty a nepo baby: an accomplished show-jumper, Perez has been competing on the international eventing circuit since she was seven.
She’s also making a name for herself in the fashion industry, and has modelled for top French brands including Hermès, Chloè and Chanel. The eldest daughter of Count and Countess d'Hauteville (one of Paris' oldest families) Zita d’Hauteville became the talk of the town after attending Les Bal des Debutantes in 2013 wearing a sumptuous navy Vivienne Westwood Haute Couture gown. A self-confessed ‘geek’, you will find the 28-year-old Account Strategist racing around Google’s head office in Dublin.
When Zita is not advising clients for the tech giant, she retreats to her family’s Parisian pad, where the It girl will pick up breakfast at Carette (nestled in the fashionable 16th Arrondissement) and attend chic parties at one of France's many glamorous châteaux. Hailed as ‘the Google of fashion’, TAGWALK has undoubtedly revolutionised the industry, providing a directory for fashion editors as it organises collections into categories, trends and street style. 34-year-old former ELLE fashion assistant and now tech entrepreneur Alexandra Van Houtte is behind the idea, after she struggled to find a way to organise catwalk collections for the fashion department at the magazine.
TAGWALK is thought to have over 46,000 users, while has named Alexandra one of 50 most influential French people in the world. Spot her on the front row of Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior during fashion week, where everyone is budging up to sit next to the tech tycoon. Scion of the famous Champagne-making family, 23-year-old Olympia Taittinger is one of Paris’ most treasured It girls.
She made her ‘debut’ into society at Les Bal des Debutanties in 2016 alongside Princess Emilia von Auersperg-Breunner, HRH Princess Zita de Bourbon Parme and Countess Angélique de Limburg Stirum, wearing Chanel Haute Couture after the late designer Karl Lagerfeld personally chose to dress her. Splitting here time between Paris and London, she read Politics and International Relations at UCL while volunteering at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where she supported the NHS during the height of the pandemic. Cheers to that.
Meandering down Avenue Montaigne, you may spot French fashion designer and socialite Maria de la Orden dressed in a tartan jumpsuit, carrying a vintage Hermès bag and balancing a chocolate brown fedora on her head. Marie embodies Parisian elegance - something that has earned her both 250,000 followers on Instagram and dedicated fans of her two fashion brands, La Veste and Maria de la Orden Studio (including Alexandra Tolstoy, Sabine Getty and Leah de Wavrin). When Maria isn’t designing, she escapes the bustling city for shooting weekends at her whimsical country house, hosts medieval-themed dinner parties or jets off to St Tropez, where she will no doubt arrive just in time for evening drinks at Le Senequier.
The 25-year-old daughter of financier Robert Agostinelli and Dior’s PR Director, Mathilde Favier, grew up at the heart of France’s fashion industry. Alongside her mother’s esteemed career in PR, Heloise’s aunt is the Creative Director of jewellery for Dior, while her great-uncle Gilles Dufour designed Haute Couture for both Chanel and Balmain - there was certainly no shortage of fashionable advice growing up in Paris. Although Heloise’s ultra-fashionable aesthetic comes naturally, it is skincare and wellness where the model thrives.
Poster girl for cult beauty brand, Dr Barbara Sturm, and having studied Naturopathic Medicine, Agostinelli knows a thing or two about glowing from within (she swears by coconut oil and chlorophyll water). Find Heloise training at KX gym in London or travelling across the pond to visit her home in Paris, where during fashion week Heloise sits on the front row at Dior and Celine..
