Sofia Coppola Is Revitalizing Parisian Ball Culture

Sofia Coppola is returning to Paris. Nineteen years after she depicted the French capital in her cult-classic film Marie Antoinette, the director is putting on an event worthy of the last Queen of France as the artistic director of the grand Parisian ball.

The fête, to be held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on July 6, will celebrate the centenary of the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts. It will act as a tribute to French elegance and art, a fund-raiser for the institution, and a kick-off of the haute couture fall/winter 2025 season.

“I am honored to be entrusted with the artistic direction of the Bal d’Été,” Coppola said in a press release. “This city is my beloved second home, so to celebrate this icon of French culture is especially inspiring to me.”

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs houses over 1.5 million works of furniture, jewelry, art, and design objects, among other artifacts. The ornate, Baroque building—which sits in the northwestern wing of the Louvre—also has a long relationship with fashion, housing exhibitions for Thierry Mugler, Iris Van Herpen, Louis Vuitton, Dries Van Noten, and Dior. In 2024 alone, both Thom Browne and Wales Bonner staged shows in the space.

Coppola’s experience with France, fashion, and celebrity made her “the natural choice” for the artistic director role, according to Jean-Victor Meyers, president of the honorary committee for the gala. He called the director “an artist who effortlessly blends fashion, music, cinema, art, and design into immersive worlds.”