Apple Martin’s Valentino Dress for Le Bal des Débutantes Took 750 Hours of Work

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.

The young debutante isn’t the only attendee in Valentino this evening: Paltrow graced Le Bal in a look from Valentino’s spring 2025 collection, while Michele also dressed Martin’s father and brother, Moses, in custom tuxedos.

Martin joins a long line of notable young women to make her debut at Le Bal: In recent years, Lily Collins, Ava Philippe, Scout Willis, Margaret Qualley, and Ella Beatty have all entered high society in style. But Apple Martin will always be the first debutante to wear custom Alessandro Michele.