I have to give Gwyneth Paltrow and Apple Martin some begrudging credit: do you know how easy it would have been for Gwyneth to turn Apple into the mother of all nepo-babies? It wouldn’t have taken more than a couple of phone calls, honestly. It helps that Apple is gorgeous, so much so that she’s probably already been offered major modeling contracts. I imagine agents have been dying to sign her too. But no, Apple wanted to go to college, so that’s what she’s doing these days. She’s 20 years old, so she’s probably a sophomore or junior at Vanderbilt (she’s in a sorority too).
Still, it’s not all wholesome college days for Apple. She has stepped out at one or two fashion events in recent years. And this past weekend, she did something her mother probably loved more than anything: Apple is a debutante. She “came out” at the most exclusive and ritzy deb ball in the world, Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris. A lot of celebrity daughters and billionaires’ daughters debut at the ball every year. Still, I’m surprised that Gwyneth wanted it and apparently Apple did too? I’m not surprised that Apple wore a very special Valentino couture look though:
Apple Martin is officially stepping into the spotlight—and in custom Valentino, no less. The daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, the 20-year-old has largely kept out of the public eye. But tonight at Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris, Martin is marking a new chapter of life.
The lavish social event imbued with old school glamour also—unsurprisingly—comes with major fashion expectations. Martin turned to Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Valentino known for his distinct point of view and love of opulence, for a debutante dress to match the evening’s no-holds-barred grandeur. Michele dreamt up a strapless bleu ciel evening dress fashioned in six dégradé tiers of silk plissé chiffon, cinched at the waist with a black silk bow, which his atelier brought to life over the course of 750 hours. Martin completed her look with a pair of strappy Valentino sandals in a matching shade of blue.
I like the gown, even if I usually dislike tiered dresses. But it’s a lovely color and the bow is very sweet and appropriate for Apple’s debut. My one quibble is that I wish there was an extra inch of fabric on the top. While her girls are not in danger of popping out, it still feels like everything should have been a little bit “higher.” Also: while the Vogue photos of Apple are gorgeous, she decided to pair the gown with some gaudy turquoise jewelry for a couple of photos… and then she removed the giant necklace later in the night. I wonder if Gwyneth was like “you’re going to ruin your special night with peasant TURQUOISE!” Also: Gwyneth, Chris Martin and Moses Martin were all in Paris to support Apple.
Photos courtesy of Vogue, Hello & Gwyneth’s Instagram.
I’m sure everything they say about this dress is true, but on my laptop it looks like polyester.
Alessandro Michele from Gucci replaced Pier Paolo Piccioli few months ago and it shows I really dislike this style.
Now you can’t tell a Gucci from a Valentino.
These ‘debuts’ needs to stop. It’s such a patriarchal privileged tradition.
The bar is low as hell if we applaude nepobabies for just going to college.
Totally agree! Lets Not make that „cool“ (again). What a step backwards.
Wasn’t Apple debuted at birth?
Truly! And saying they can get a modeling contract with no problem when they aren’t more than 5’5” and just averagely pretty. The bar is LOW for these children. This whole debutant thing is weird. All daughters of the famous are invited but it seems only Reese Witherspoon’s girl and Lily Collins (of all people) have taken them up I read.
@Lens – Lily Collins, Apple Martin, Ava Philippe, Margaret Qualley, Lucia Ponti ( Sofia Loren’s granddaughter ), Lori Harvey ( Steve’s daughter ), Sophia Stallone, Scout and Tallulah Willis, Autumn Whitaker, Billie Lourd…it’s Nepo Baby Central where all the nepo babies of the world unite.
In this group, the only two with talent in my book are Margaret Qualley ( she killed it in MAID ) and Lily Collins to an extent….the rest meh….daddy and mommy’s names get them where they are. What are they debuting, their nepo baby status????
To play the devil’s advocate – Gwyneth is 5’9” and in the newest pictures, Apple is significantly taller than her, so she actually has a correct height for modeling. With her looks, she would be a much better fit for modeling than Nicole Kidman’s daughter or even some current nepo models.
hi!
the ball, for any unaware, is no longer about ‘debuting’ young ladies for the purpose of marriage. it’s really more about introducing the girls to the world by highlighting the businesses they’ve started, the causes they advocate for, their accomplishments and ambitions, etc. the ball raises tons of money for charity, and they do some good work.
for anyone who wants to know more about what the ball is actually about, you can follow their insta page, it’s very informative.
btw, lots of things are rooted in old traditions (eg marriage), but they can always be adapted and readapted for modern purposes. i’m a feminist, and i don’t believe we have to throw the baby out with the bathwater with everything.
@sunshine It’s a show of wealth and power, that’s all these things are for. Charity is not the aim but just something they probabily do to justify this or feel better about themselves and this useless parade of young girls. Most of which are still in college, if even, so what business would they have started? Hopefully I’m wrong, but most of these nepobabies just aim to be influencers/models and sometimes actresses and then get offender when someone tells them they got their job thanks to their last name.
Like I said it’s a show off, incredibly anachronistic and offensive for every intelligent woman, and we really don’t need to celebrate and of that.
Yes! Debutante balls are stupid! They have no place in modern society whatsoever! And however they want to pretty it up with charitable endeavors, it’s still a priveleged waste of resources.
It’s basically just “bring out your nepo baby” ball. Utterly useless and it looks stupid as hell.
Deb balls are just an excuse to flex wealth and privilege and to uphold the patriarchal, white supremacist standards of old, let’s be real. To pretend they’re anything other than that is ridiculous. This dress looks like ever 70s prom polyester nightmare, minus the sleeves.
Gwen being Gwen, the simple fact of life his post highlighting that apple could be a top nepotism case, but she decided to go to college and be in a sorority means that gwen has won her public pr strategy for her daughter. Gwen is all about looks and this whole public scheme for apple is the same. They all know she’s gonna be modeling and she’s gonna paint and all her toiles are gonna get sold/bought by all of gwen’s employees and friends in the business.
In other words, she’s not gonna be public struggling like brooklyn beckham.
Just gross. It’s 2024 fs
It’s 2024 is every other part of the world. Here in the U.S., unless a woman wants to end up as a handmaid, aunt, or econowife, debuting is an important step to being a high ranking wife who is not allowed to read but holds some societal status.
Gwyneth Paltrow leaned HARD into the Grace Kelly comparisons at the height of her fame.
No doubt, she was hoping to land a Euro Prince, a la Grimaldi.
Paltrow and a young Prince Felipe had a brief romance.
https://royal-confessions.tumblr.com/post/635070256790028288/its-wild-how-gwyneth-paltrow-and-king-felipe
https://www.revistavanityfair.es/realeza/articulos/asi-fue-la-relacion-entre-felipe-y-la-actriz-britanica-gwyneth-paltrow/24069
So Apple Martin going this route tracks.😉😉😉
My thoughts exactly. Project Princess Apple in the works!
Gwen herself came from Hollywood royalty and was honored for that at 26 with an Oscar. I feel like she’s never really recovered from being on top of the world, standing on her heaps of unearned privilege. She married a pop star, but really should have held out for a titled aristocrat. She’d be amazing swanning around her ridiculous country pile using a fake accent to boss around the servants.
Yeah, the dress is beautiful (so is she), but it is too low, so it looks weird on the upper part. I didn’t know these debuts are still a thing?? It is weird, right? I would understand it as an event young people with similar backgrounds coming together for networking, etc. But, it sounds so patriarchal. It is weird Gwen is into it.
Regardless of people’s general feeling about this kind of event, it seems like Apple was the one who wanted to do this so idk why it’s weird that her mom (+dad, and brother) are there supporting her?
@Kristen
Yeah Apple’s 20.
By all accounts, she’s gravitated in elite circles all her life from high school onwards.
She’s pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma.
I’m quite sure she was thrilled with this and no one made her do anything.
I mean, I don’t think this 20-year old saw some instagram post about this ball and decided to do it. Her mother is the fashion contact in the family. I don’t think she would do it if Gwen said no.
Man, what is time?
Sweet like a wedding cake topper.
I think the necklace, though gaudy, improves the look by making the low neckline more appropriate. The dress was probably created with the necklace in mind which is why the neckline is so low to begin with. I bet Apple took it off due to risk of damage or it being too heavy.
That same necklace ended up on the girl who wore the belly-baring outfit, who originally started with a long lariat type necklace. It’s a mystery I wish someone would solve.
apple needs to go easy on the lip fillers. sorry. can’t find anything nice to say when it’s connected to this elitist garbage coming-out ball misogyny. who in the world would want this…for themselves, for their daughters. cue clapback from gwynnie that it’s all for a good cause….
I don’t think that is lip fillers she’s had that full upper lip since pre-adolescence. Sometimes you just have poofy lips 🙂
No sorry she doesn’t have an asymmetric puffy upper lip in pics of her as a child. It’s OBVIOUSLY filler and poorly done.
She has lip fillers – and they look wonky when her mouth is open.
No one on either side of that family has poufy lips lol. Man 20 is so young to messing with the face
I followed the Hello link.
Some of the dresses are nice, not just Apple’s, even if the “débutante” event should have been left behind in the last millennium.
What I noticed: several of the “cavaliers” used titles that stopped existing more than a hundred years ago because countries abolished their monarchies at the end of the Great War, WWI. France infamously did away with their monarchy 235 years ago. It’s sad that they don’t seem to have anything else to distinguish them than defunct nobility.
There was a ‘princess’ from France there wearing a tiara! Lol
I feel that about the Greek royals too, but people seem to take them more seriously for some reason.
Probably because the Greek royals were a cadet branch of the Danish royal family, who are very much still in power and, I think, the oldest still-ruling royal house in Europe. Also, one of the Greek royals was Prince Phillip, so the British royal family have (until very recently) been quite big supporters of the Greek royals.
Basically, the international royal scene takes them more seriously because they’re closely related to some of the biggest dogs in the yard.
Also, they only got deposed in 1924, were reinstated in 1935, and stuck around until 1973 when they were kicked out again. VERY recently deposed, as far as monarchies go.
Yep, I know those connections but they are still defunct. Anyway. I’m sure they’ll all keep royaling.
Anyhoo, I can’t think of a legit male royal who would be age appropriate. Christian’s a bit young.
Geez I swear she was 7 the last time I remember Gwyneth talking about her kids. Time flies.
But agree with everyone, that top feels like a good breeze or stretch and out pops the ladies. Or maybe that is the tease of it by design.
Either way, she’s rich, she’s lovely and has all the options in the world. Must be nice.
The colour of the dress is beautiful, the construction is great. But the low bodice throws the proportions off. An inch or two more fabric at the top and it would be a winner.
As to the event itself – rich people are going to do rich people things that are tone deaf and ostentatiously over the top. And Martin and Paltrow are both very rich indeed.
I think the height of the bodice has made many of us look more than once at what otherwise would have been just a beautifully made sweetly-pretty dress. It did its work — quite well.
The low bodice actually makes it look as though her boobs are saggy. Not a good look!
@silverbirch that’s what I got too. There is enough coverage but she looks like she could use a lift.
Rich people are so ridiculous.
We need to stop overusing superlatives when describing famous folks. Apple is a perfectly okay looking young woman and by no means unattractive but gorgeous? I’m not seeing it. I’m seeing a young woman with a unique look, who sadly, already appears to be using filters and other cosmetic procedures.
I have to agree with Kaiser, my opinion aligns with Apple being gorgeous.
Honestly, I do think Apple is naturally pretty and tall. Which if she hit a runway, it wouldn’t be surprising to me.
But I also think Lilly Rose Depp is average looking and if it wasn’t for her parents. She wouldn’t get her foot in the door at a modeling agency or handed acting roles. That one I don’t get at all.
But beauty is subjective.
She puts me in mind of lily-rose deep actually. There’s a vacancy in the eyes. I have no idea if this is an effect of being photographed or if it reflects something personal. Lily-rose looks incredibly guarded to me and not at all comfortable in front of the camera.
I think Apple is gorgeous. The dress is OK.
I was surprised to see Apple at this debut. It’s an event that always piques my curiosity–so antiquated yet apparently still attractive to folks with lots of money & questionable taste. Apple looks nice, though. She has Blythe Danner’s eyes.
I don’t have a problem with this. Rich people gonna rich. It’s a fun thing to do.
I do feel that the dress needed more on top because right now, to quote the GoFugYourself bloggers, it looks like it needs a good hoik upward.
I will say the Greek system is a scourge and when I taught at the university level I always felt disappointed when I saw people decide to pervert their educational years that way. But that’s all I’ve got.
I was thinking any 20 year old would think this ball is embarrassingly cringe, but go figure.
Too loose and low made Gwyneth famous in her pink Oscars dress. It’s definitely a thing and one she probably promoted in Apple too.
As long as it’s their money being spent and not mine, having a debut party is their business. Other cultures have ” welcome to adulthood ” parties, rituals, events so this isn’t that different imo.
He dress is giving me Hermione at the Yule Ball vibes, even though it’s a different color.
The DM is saying that Apple photo bombed some other debutante and basically invaded her space to get her own picture taken. Lol.
I saw it earlier and yikes. I don’t know what the DM said, but they probably weren’t being overdramatic for a change.
There’s a video doing the rounds on SM and Apple basically stomps up and starts waving her elbow at the young lady in front of her swishing around – it was obvious that she wanted the photog’s attention on her like she was posing on a red carpet at a movie premiere. The thirst is real and yeah she’s gonna follow in the footsteps of Lily Depp and the rest of them.
I was wondering if anyone else saw that!
Color! The deb ball in Chicago is VERY MUCH white only …
And whatever — a fun night of being fairy princess in Paris? I mean, really, the whole deb thing is gross, but of all the things Goop has done, this is probably the most harmless …
Interesting. I went to Vandy, over 20 years ago, lots of generational rich southern families there. But they also work hard to have a diverse population from all over the country. I got LOTS of financial aid. You cannot get into Vanderbilt (or stay in) without the grades or test scores. So Apple isn’t just in college just for fun. It’s nickname is ‘the Harvard of the South’
Lucia Ponti, Sophia Loren’s granddaughter, is the daughter of Sasha Alexander of NCIS and Rizzoli and Isles. She’s been married to Ponti for like 20+ years. Another actor progeny there was the daughter of Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker.
Ok, I went to the Hello! link & noticed a couple of things. Each young woman wore a gown by a different designer; several–although not all–wore significant necklaces, or earrings, or earring/necklace combos; most had long hair & wore it down. So–were the gowns & jewelry all arranged for them, or at least provided for them, and they just had to say yes, please? Or was there any choice at all? Also, I guess after the gowns & jewels they couldn’t spring for hair & makeup? And they left Apple’s name & her ‘cavalier’ off the list at the end!
She looks like Amanda Seyfried.
Yeah, I can see that, although young Kate Moss was my first impression
She has Trump face.
lol 😂 Google mar-a-lago face, something I learned about very recently
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/plastic-surgery-trend-mar-a-lago-face-1236065450/
TBF Apple Martini does have youth on her side unlike these MAGA women
These balls are so elitist and outdated.
And am surprised no one mentioned Apple mean girling Countess Alienor Loppin de Montmort: https://www.vulture.com/article/apple-martin-debut.html
My son has seen her at the joint frat/sorority parties. Says “she looks like alien,” but a pretty alien. Lol. He also says she terrifies all the first year frat boys. He is friends with a good friend of hers.
I agree re Qualley who was also excellent in the recent weird Demi Moore body horror film. Cooper Hoffman is good, as is Maya Hawke. Eve Hewson is fine. The name gives them the entry but unless they can cut it….plenty of famous actors offspring haven’t lasted because they can’t deliver the goods.
Apple’s college experience must be very different from mine. I remember being crazy busy with papers and final exams between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can’t imagine having the time to fly off to Paris for this sort of nonsense.
F Scott Fitzgerald nailed it: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”
Watched the video (see link @TQ above). Apple Martin’s appearance (in all meanings of the word) was “unfortunate.” (Kindest thing I can say.)
I agree. Very unfortunate.
Her artificially inflated upper lip is way too much. She’s 20?
Have to agree with @kaiser. She’s 20 and we hardly ever see her in the limelight and she’s kept her life low key and private. To be honest, that seems to be the theme of Gen Z these days as they’re Quiet- they don’t drink as much, they don’t do drugs as much, and don’t have sex as much etc. This was the one and only time Ive seen Apple(and her brother Moses) in the limelight(since maybe I saw her in magazine photos once as a baby), some are already criticizing her – go figure.
Are you using the term gorgeous loosely….cause😬