Thylane Blondeau was just four years old when she strode down the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier, hand in hand with an older model.
She appeared again six years later, in Vogue France, sprawled on leopard-print pillows and wearing a gold mini dress. Blondeau was the youngest model to ever pose for the glossy magazine.
Image: Vogue Paris.
The little girl's blue eyes, blonde hair and prominent lips made headlines. The provocation of her body caused outrage — many argued it made her a victim.
A photo of her went viral across the burgeoning social media landscape, one that would forever be associated with her name.
The viral image of Thylane when she was younger. Image: instagram/@thylaneblondeau
She was dubbed "the most beautiful girl in the world."
Regardless of what people thought of her looks, the interest also made her a case study: How can a child be objectified like that?
Criticism aside, almost 20 years later, Blondeau's career is still burgeoning.
Now, in 2025, at 24 years old, she has 6.9 million followers on Instagram.
Watch: How I became a model at 54. Post continues after video.
Born in 2001, Blondeau is the daughter of former football star Patrick Blondeau and Véronika Loubry, a French actor and television personality.
She also has a younger brother, Ayrton Blondeau.
Thylane Blondeau with her mother and brother. Image: Instagram @thylaneblondeau.
A few years after her first runway with Jean Paul Gaultier, Blondeau posed for her first photo shoot, which went viral, earning her the title of "the most beautiful girl in the world."
Loubry, the model's mother, responded to the global attention in a frantic post on social media.
"Thylane doesn't know about the buzz and I want to protect her from the deepest of my heart... She's so young," she said. "So we are going to close this [account] for a while."
She later told a French magazine she couldn't understand the outrage over her daughter's modelling.
"The only thing that shocks me about the photo is the necklace she is wearing, which is worth [three] million euros," Loubry said.
Read more: Being the "Most Beautiful Girl in the World" may be the toughest job there is.
While the spread was controversial, Blondeau later appeared on the cover of Grazia and scored lucrative ambassadorships with L’Oréal and Dolce & Gabbana.
At 15, she signed with IMG Models.
In 2015, Blondeau founded the fashion label Heaven May. That year, she also starred in her first film, Belle & Sebastian: The Adventure Continues.
Thylane Blondeau in Belle & Sebastian: The Adventure Continues. Image: Canal+.
In an interview with Frivolette, a french publication, the model said the greatest challenge in shooting for the movie was filming a scene that involved working closely with a forest fire.
"It was more difficult to shoot in scenes with fire," she explained. "It was very scary."
She later told the publication she wouldn't "exactly" consider herself the most beautiful girl on earth.
"To be honest, I do not like to talk about myself," the model admitted. "It's funny, is not it? But I play the piano, guitar and drums. And I'm singing. But I'm terribly embarrassed about everything I do."
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2018, she said:
“When you’re small, you don’t really pay attention. People are like, ‘you know, you’re the most beautiful girl in the world,’ and you’re like, ‘I’m not, I’m just playing with my iPad.’
"Even today, people are like, ‘you are the most beautiful girl,’ and I’m like, ‘no, I’m still not, I’m just a human being, a teenager.’"
Growing up, Blondeau divided her time between school, modelling and acting but told Teen Vogue in 2017 she tried to keep her worlds separate.
"My friends and I don't talk about [my modelling] a lot. It's kind of my secret garden," she said. "But my family is very happy for me."
Thylane Blondeau, 2023. Image: Getty.
In October 2021, Blondeau revealed she was rushed to the hospital after a cyst on her ovary exploded.
"A year ago I had an emergency operation for an ovarian cyst that had exploded in my stomach," she wrote.
Three months later, she said her stomach began to hurt again.
"I've seen more than [four] radiology centres in Paris and all of them said the same thing, 'Don't worry [you] have nothing, it's all in your head.'"
However, after being dismissed at several appointments, a doctor who found another 5.6cm cyst touching her ovary, requiring another surgery.
Luckily, she was able to recover after the surgery and has been doing well since.
Listen to this episode of No Filter, hosted by Mia Freedman. Post continues after audio.
Thylane is engaged to her long-term partner Benjamin Attal, who she has been with since 2020. The couple have been spotted together at several events, but it doesn't appear that they have tied the knot yet.
In the meantime, she continues to work with major fashion brands like Miu Miu, Dolce & Gabbana, L'Oréal Paris, Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Hugo Boss, maintaining her status as a sought-after figure in the fashion industry.
She has also since launched her own haircare brand Enalyht.
Thylane Blondeau and Benjamin Attal. Image: Instagram @thylaneblondeau.
She recently posted a tribute to her first runway with a throwback video behind the scenes of the Jean-Paul Gaultier show.
"Where it all started 🤍 20 years ago my first runway for Jean-Paul Gaultier 🤍" she captioned the post.
Aside from having a large Instagram following (almost seven million followers), Blondeau is grateful for the childhood she had where her work was in the spotlight.
When asked what she thinks about the criticism she received as a child model, her answer was simple.
"Well, Kate Moss started modelling at the age of 15, and that was a little while ago," she told Teen Vogue. "So no. I’m not too young. If you have a good agency and people who take care of you… it’s perfect."
Feature Image: Instagram @Getty/Instagram @thylaneblondeau.
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