A KEDGE Alumna, Hélène Darroze now has her own Barbie!

We wrote an article about her in January: Hélène Darroze, a Michelin-starred chef, who is famous for her role as a jury in the show Top Chef, is an alumna of KEDGE Business School. Indeed, Hélène graduated in 1990 from the KEDGE BS campus in Bordeaux, where she specialised in hotel management, before spending three years at the gourmet restaurant "Le Louis XV" at the Hôtel de Paris, which was managed by the top chef from the Landes region, Alain Ducasse in Monte-Carlo. After realising that she had a real gift in the kitchen, Mr. Ducasse told her that she should consider becoming a Chef. She has had a very successful career ever since. And today, Hélène Darroze was even chosen by the toy maker Mattel, which created the famous Barbie, to have a new doll made in her likeness. 

A rare honour, especially since the only other French celebrity to have had a doll made in her honour is the several times medal-winning swimmer Laure Manaudou, who had received one has a gift in 2010 as part of the "I Can Be" operation.

This new doll, which was launched on the occasion of International Women's Day, was created in the framework of the "Barbie Shero" programme, that began in 2015 and aims to highlight the importance of the positive role that exceptional women can play in being inspirational role models for young girls.

"Barbie honours exceptional women throughout the world in marge of International Women's Day", explained Mattel in a press release. Barbie salutes inspirational models that have marked History, to show little girls that they can be whatever they want. 

Hélène Darroze joins a long list of celebrities that have had a doll made to their likeness, such as Ashley Graham, Gigi Hadid, Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Cindy Lauper, Diana Ross, Beyonce, Farrah Fawcett, Johnny Depp, or even Oprah Winfrey.

In honor of #InternationalWomensDay, we are committed to shining a light on empowering female role models past and present in an effort to inspire more girls.

Join the conversation by sharing your role models using #MoreRoleModels. pic.twitter.com/5oJnZywk7s

— Barbie (@Barbie) March 6, 2018

PGE