Hannah Husain is the first Pakistani to compete in Paris’ Le Bal des Débutantes. The Paris debutante gala and fashion event Le Bal attracts 20–25 16–22-year-olds each November. It is the only invitation-only debutante ball.
Modern royals, young socialites, and benefactors from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the U.S. attend this elite event with their parents. Husain, the great-great-granddaughter of Sir Fazle Husain, a renowned attorney, education minister, and unionist party founder in India, represented Pakistan at the event. Harpers Bazaar Arabia reported that her great-grandfather was the Pakistani Ambassador to Beirut.
Husain wore Georges Hobeika and Elie Saab designs with her brother Harris along. At Shangri-La Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew’s former home, stars attended the event. Six Asian debutantes, including Advaitesha Birla, the great-great-granddaughter of Aditya Birla Group founder GD Birla, and Skye Wong, from Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank founders, attended this year’s event.
Ophélie Renouard organized the ball to collect money for Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital’s cardiology research unit, ARCFA, which treats children with heart problems globally, and World Central Kitchen, which feeds disadvantaged populations during global crises.
The ball, which began in 1958 at the Château de Versailles, was canceled in 1968 owing to French worker upheavals. In 1992, Ophélie Renouard relaunched it as an invitation-only fashion event. The ‘Crillon Ball’ was held at Paris’ renowned Hôtel de Crillon from 1992 to 2012.
Ava Phillippe, daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, Lily Collins, Ella Beatty, Viola Mikkelsen, and Sophia-Rose Stallone were debutantes. Huawei’s founder’s daughter, Jen Li, stands out.