“When I’m in the saddle, when I jump, I’m not afraid. It’s when I get off the horse that everything changes.” Mathilde Pinault is a natural born rider. She is 20 years old, studies in Paris and comes from a very, very famous family. She is the daughter of the first marriage between François-Henri Pinault, owner of Kering (one of the world’s most important luxury groups), and Dorothée Lepère. She is tall and moves with confidence, but her eyes tell a different story. “My eyes don’t lie, nor are they afraid to reveal my shyness and some fears. Feelings that, it’s true, disappear when I’m on horseback’.
Horse riding is the passion of heiresses, from Charlotte Casiraghi to Jennifer Gates and Eve Jobs. Mathilde Pinault is no exception. She has been riding since she was six years old, starting out on ponies and then – at 13 – moving on to show jumping. One of her dreams is to participate in the Olympics. The photo shoot on these pages is set in her favourite place, Tendercapital Stables, the sports stable belonging to the Tendercapital Group, of which Moreno Zani (pictured), 52, is founder and chairman.
Photo Raul Ruz
Service Pablo Patanè