The Art of Elegance Across the World – Intercultural Dialogue on Beauty and Identity | GYDCA at UNESCO

Five cultures, five languages of elegance. Discover how France, Italy, Morocco, Korea, and Argentina define beauty and identity at UNESCO Paris. On the afternoon of May 28, something rare took place in Room IX at UNESCO. Ten cultures took the floor, one after another, and the room did not debate. It listened. What does it mean to be elegant? The question seems simple. But when you bring together in the same conversation a Korean beauty entrepreneur, a Moroccan activist for women's empowerment, an Argentine PR professional raised between Buenos Aires and Athens, an Italian law student shaped by Tuscany and Milan, and a French content creator with Jamaican roots, the question opens up into something far broader. "Dialogue among civilizations does not exist only in major international debates. It lives in the cultural choices, aesthetic expressions, and identities of young people in their daily lives." — Jing ZHANG, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, GYDCA ✦ ACT I ✦ The Panel: Is Elegance Universal? Five voices: AMBRE JABIR, designer trained at ESMOD International, known for her conscious and sustainable approach to luxury; ANNFLOR SANGAN, designer and trend analyst trained at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, with early experience alongside Galliano and Alaïa; TIM STOLTE, German designer and founder of Timsto, shaped by Antwerp's fashion master's program; SURYA MATHEW, founder of Maison Surya Mathew, trained simultaneously at Paris's High Jewelry School and under a master jeweler in Kerala; and CARMEN M. NZAMBA, bringing Central African perspectives into a conversation that needed them. Together, they raised questions the industry rarely stops long enough to address, moderated by ELOÏNE RAMON-BURGADA with vision, care, and grace. ✦ ACT II ✦ Five Countries, Five Languages of Elegance Morocco – SAMIA MARROUCHA (Entrepreneur, former teacher, founder of SC Campus): Samia Marroucha introduced the room to an elegance rooted not in minimalism but in richness—the traditional Kaftan, the ancient art of Zellige mosaic, the delicate craftsmanship of Henna, the sensory abundance of the medina. In Moroccan culture, elegance is not worn: it is lived. France – LILLY (Content creator and tech manager based in Paris): Lilly began where any honest account of French elegance must begin: with the concept of "je ne sais quoi." She traced the aesthetics of restraint, natural confidence, and nonchalance, decoding how France, through Chanel and the cultural weight of its art, architecture, and language, has long exported a very specific image of beauty. Italy – EMMA MIGLIARINI (European law student at the University of Strasbourg, born in Tuscany): Emma Migliarini brought to the room a word with no direct translation—sprezzatura, the Renaissance ideal of making the difficult appear effortless. Italian elegance lives in the tension between meticulous tailoring and studied nonchalance. The silhouette matters, the fabric matters, but nothing must look like it took effort. South Korea – YEBEEN KIM (Digital creator and founder of Atelier Seoul in Paris): Yebeen Kim traced Korean elegance from its Confucian philosophical roots to personal color analysis and the global K-beauty industry, showing how the pursuit of clear skin is an inner practice of care, patience, and self-knowledge. Argentina – BAUTISTA MACCIONE (Communication and PR professional): Bautista Maccione spoke of an elegance unconcerned with restraint—it is concerned with identity. Through the prism of Buenos Aires, tango culture, and the emotional expressiveness of Latin American aesthetics, he argued that dressing impeccably is a statement about who you are. Elegance here is not a code: it is a story. ✦ ACT III ✦ The Closing Hour The final hour brought all voices together in the same room. Honey Tian Mi (Former Miss Asia) offered a striking perspective on the evolution of beauty standards in China—how a generation moves from exterior ideals toward inner cultivation. Marina Przadka (Former Miss Picardie) reminded the audience that true elegance carries weight far beyond aesthetics. The afternoon concluded with a moving performance of Édith Piaf's Hymne à l'Amour by Gersende Martin-H, suspending the conversation in a moment of universal grace.