Cécile Pelous is a French philanthropist and creative designer for

couture Couture may refer to: People * Couture (surname) Places Belgium * Couture-Saint-Germain, a village in the municipality of Lasne, Belgium Canada * Couture crater and Lac Couture, an impact crater and the lake that covers it in Quebec, Canada ...

houses in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Pelous worked with some of the largest fashion brands including

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

, Lacroix, Nina Ricci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Galliano.

Philanthropy

After writing a letter to

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

in 1989 and receiving a reply welcoming her help, Pelous went to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and worked with Teresa for five year. She worked with lepers and then later in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

she built a home for orphans. She financed the project by selling her home in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She travels to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and Nepal several months a year between each fashion collection. She founded the association Action Autonomie Avenir to assist in her Nepal work. On January 30, 2010, she received the insignia of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

Personal life

She is an honorary citizen of the town of

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

and a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

.Cécile Pelous: Love and Friendship in India
by Thierry Crucy in '' Liahona March 1992. Accessed October 15, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelous, Cecile Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite French Latter Day Saints Living people Year of birth missing (living people)