Dior has announced the “accidental death” of its public relations director, Mathilde Favier.
Favier and her partner, filmmaker Nicolas Altmayer, died around 4:00 pm on Monday, August 17 after the car they were driving collided with a heavy goods vehicle traveling in the opposite direction as it attempted to overtake another vehicle on a departmental road in France’s Deux-Sèvres region. According to deputy prosecutor Nicolas Leclainche of the Niort prosecutor’s office, an investigation for involuntary manslaughter by the driver has been opened, per Variety .
Favier joined Dior in 2011 and became director of public relations for Dior Couture, working closely with the brand’s most high profile ambassadors, including Natalie Portman, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence, and Anya Taylor-Joy.
“Mathilde was an extraordinary person,” said Dior CEO Delphine Arnault in a statement . “Her infectious joy, optimism, courage, commitment and loyalty were truly exemplary. She embodied the Dior woman so perfectly. During these tragic times, my thoughts are with her family, her children, Héloïse and Carlo, her mother, her sisters Victoire and Pauline, her uncle, her many friends, and the team she loved so dearly. Her energy, her smile and her elegance will be sorely missed.“
“We all owe so much to her work and dedication,” said Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson. “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.”
Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, said in his own statement that he was “deeply saddened” to learn of Favier’s death. “[She] devoted so many years to putting her passion, energy and talent at the service of the House of Dior.”
Oscar-winning actor Marion Cotillard also posted a tribute to Favier on Instagram. “Such wonderful memories together, my dear Mathilde. Your beauty, your gentleness, your fighting spirit. And that smile,” Cotillard wrote. “You went through so many hardships, and every time you got back on your feet, even more light seemed to radiate from you. I had such great admiration for you.”
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