Photo: Getty Images Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story This Tuesday, August 18, Mathilde Favier, Dior Couture’s longtime director of public relations, died in Airvault, France, in a car accident that also claimed the life of her husband, Nicolas Altmayer. Favier was 57 and Altmayer, a film producer, was 61.
The House of Dior remembered Favier as “an exceptional woman whose communicative joy, talent and loyalty were exemplary.” In a statement, Delphine Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of Christian Dior Couture, added: “Mathilde loved life with a passion. With the passing of Mathilde, Dior is losing an incredible professional, and I have lost a loyal friend. Her optimism and courage commanded admiration. We will sorely miss her smile and her talent. I feel deeply saddened today; my thoughts are very much with her children, her mother, her sisters, her family, her many friends and her team she loved so much.”
Bernard Arnault also paid tribute to Favier, stating: “I was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic and sudden passing of Mathilde Favier, who devoted so many years to putting her passion, energy and talent at the service of the House of Dior. My heartfelt condolences go to her family and loved ones.”
Remembering Favier in his own tribute, Jonathan Anderson, Dior’s artistic director, described a woman who embodied the very essence of haute couture: “I am heartbroken by Mathilde Favier’s passing. We all owe so much to her work and dedication. She brought such warmth, energy and was the most positive and uplifting person I have ever met. Mathilde was the very embodiment of elegance and in many ways, the spirit of Couture itself.”
Sofia Coppola, Mathilde Favier at the La Double J Cocktail Party on December 10, 2024 in New York, New York. (Photo by Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images) Photo: Getty Images An epicurean and aesthete with a deep passion for style and the art of living, Mathilde Favier fostered a connection to Paris so profound that it became the subject of a book, Living Beautifully in Paris , created with Frédérique Dedet and published by Flammarion. The volume offers an intimate portrait of the city through Favier’s personal sensibility, surveying her favorite places and her finely honed approach to the art of living. Favier’s Paris was a city of fashion, culture, gastronomy, beauty and fantastic encounters: a Paris of bistros and French cuisine, flowers, museums and places steeped in fashion history.
Favier was particularly fond of the Galerie Dior, the Musée Picasso, and the Jardin des Plantes. She described Paris in three words: “refined, cultured, and enchanting.” Yet she was not merely sharing the story of a city; she was also portraying the Paris she considered her own—a city defined not only by its places but, above all, by its people. Those people had always been at the center of Favier’s career, and they are now remembering her with affection and disbelief in the wake of her tragic passing.
“None of this makes sense, and I struggle to understand how any of it ever will,” Favier’s son, Carlo Agostinelli, wrote in a post. “You were the incarnation of life, the definition of joy, and so much more than words could ever do justice. You loved and were loved more deeply than I think any of us will ever be able to understand. Life works in such unpredictable and mysterious ways, but as you always taught me, trust life’s plan, trust destiny, and let the rest take care of itself.”