There are few rooms in the world where a proficiency with the waltz is required for entry, but such is the situation at the Shangri-La Paris. At least for one evening, in which the hotel’s grand ballroom is transformed into le Bal des Débutantes.
An important moment on the social calendar since its founding, by power publicist Ophélie Renouard in 1994, the annual by-invitation-only affair ushers some of the most high-profile young women in the world (often the daughters of notables from the arts, government, and finance) into the social set. Its debutantes have included Delphine Arnault, Lauren Bush, Lily Collins, and many more, all handpicked by Renouard. Its objective is to raise money for charity—this year, the beneficiaries were chef José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen and the Necker hospital, in Paris.
