Couture Week Opens With a Cinematic Bal d’Été, Directed by Sofia Coppola at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Paris slumped from sizzle to drizzle this weekend, but the sun broke through just in time for 300 guests—a mix of art patrons, collectors, couture clients, movie stars, and fashion luminaries—to turn out dressed to the nines for the summer ball at MAD, as the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is known. Officially called Le Bal d’Été, the gala has quickly become known, simply, as Le Bal.
For months, scoring an invitation to the fundraiser had been the hottest game in town. On Sunday night, the scene not only raised the curtain on Couture Week—it also marked the centenary of the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts. Proceeds from the evening—an estimated $2.8 million—will go toward supporting the highly anticipated exhibition 1925–2025: One Hundred Years of Art Deco, which opens October 22.
Once past the photo call, guests including Chanel ambassadors Keira Knightley, Kirsten Dunst, and Penélope Cruz; Betty Catroux, Marisa Berenson, Pieter Mulier, Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, Zac Posen, Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Léna Mahfouf, Chiara Mastroianni, Giambattista Valli, Inez and Vinoodh, and Jonathan and Lizzie Tisch (who were key to the evening’s fundraising efforts) stepped into a cinematic décor masterminded by Coppola. French wrought iron garden furnishings, shimmering crystal candelabras, and lavish floral displays set the scene. Among the early arrivals was Jordan Roth, who swept in wearing a dramatic sequined and pleated gown from Alessandro Michele’s debut couture collection for Valentino. “If you’re going to throw a couture party, I’m going all out,” he quipped.
Though MAD has hosted galas before, the museum’s president, Lionel Sauvage, described this one as its “first real family ball.”
“Everyone here is close to the museum,” he said of the event, which he hopes to stage every other year. He credited Jean-Victor Meyers, president of the gala’s honorary committee, with conceiving the idea of a festive summer ball in collaboration with Coppola. Describing a full-circle family moment, Sauvage recounted how, during the pandemic lockdowns, Thomas Mars—Coppola’s husband—used the museum’s great hall to rehearse with his band, Phoenix. “More than fundraising, that’s the kind of friendship and fun that defines this entire evening,” Sauvage said.
As artistic director, Coppola explained that her goal was to make guests feel at home—not as if they were attending a traditional fundraiser.
“I wanted to keep the theme of a summer ball and bring the garden inside,” Coppola offered, “and I approached it the same way I would a party scene in a movie.” One of her references? The legendary hostess Countess Jacqueline de Ribes as captured in an iconic 1980s Horst photograph, posed beside an exuberant flower arrangement. Rosy tablescapes, a menu composed by Bertrand Grébaut of Septime, and a performance by South African soprano Pretty Yende—dressed in a magenta vintage Balenciaga gown from the Nicolas Ghesquière era—rounded out the evening.