Dorothée Lepère is a French woman best known as the former wife of François-Henri Pinault, chairman of luxury group Kering. The couple married on May 28, 1996, and divorced in 2004 after approximately eight years together. They have two children, François and Mathilde Pinault.
Lepère has also been described as an interior designer, although details of her professional projects are limited. French business records document her involvement in property-related business activity and a former association with a holding company. Her daughter Mathilde has spoken publicly about her mother’s influence on her childhood, education and interest in horseback riding.
Key takeaways
- Marriage: Dorothée Lepère married François-Henri Pinault on May 28, 1996, in Paris. Their divorce was reported in 2004.
- Children: They have two children, François and Mathilde Pinault. Mathilde is known for her involvement in equestrian sport.
- Career: PEOPLE identifies Lepère as an interior designer, while French commercial records separately document residential property rental as a registered business activity.
- Family: In interviews published in 2019 and 2021, Mathilde described how her mother introduced her to riding, encouraged her education and offered advice about handling criticism.
Dorothée Lepère profile summary
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Dorothée Lepère |
| Name in historical documents | Dorothée Nicole Lepère |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Former marriage to François-Henri Pinault |
| Reported profession | Interior designer, according to PEOPLE |
| Former husband | François-Henri Pinault |
| Marriage date | May 28, 1996 |
| Divorce | 2004 |
| Children | François Pinault and Mathilde Pinault |
| Documented business activity | Residential property rental |
| Historical business association | HOLDING PARFEUM |
Her Marriage to François-Henri Pinault
Dorothée Lepère married François-Henri Pinault on May 28, 1996, in the sixth arrondissement of Paris. The precise date appears in the historical statutes of SCI Hôtel de Palaiseau, a French corporate document that identifies her as Dorothée Nicole Lepère.
Their marriage began during an earlier stage of Pinault’s business career. He had joined the family business in 1987 and was taking on increasingly senior responsibilities, but he had not yet become head of the company now known as Kering.
That distinction matters because François-Henri’s international recognition grew considerably in subsequent years. He became chairman and CEO of PPR in 2005, after his marriage to Lepère had ended. The company later adopted the Kering name in 2013.
Following a leadership change on September 15, 2025, François-Henri became chairman of Kering’s board of directors. His position is confirmed by Kering’s official corporate biography.
Lepère and Pinault divorced in 2004, according to PEOPLE and other established coverage of the family. The circumstances behind their separation have not been publicly established in sufficient detail to support a definitive explanation.
Their marriage produced two children, François and Mathilde, who remain the principal family connection between Lepère and the Pinault family.
François-Henri subsequently married actress Salma Hayek in 2009. Hayek is therefore the stepmother of François and Mathilde, although Lepère and Hayek are not related by blood.
What Is Known About Dorothée Lepère’s Career?
Dorothée Lepère has been identified professionally as an interior designer, including in PEOPLE’s coverage of her daughter Mathilde.
Interior design is the occupation most commonly associated with her in published biographies. However, specific information about her completed projects, clients, professional qualifications and design businesses is not extensively documented.
French commercial records provide a more precise account of certain business activities connected to her name.
A Pappers business registration identifies an individual enterprise under the name PINAULT DOROTHEE, with DOROTHEE LEPERE recorded as the operator’s birth name.
The enterprise’s declared principal activity is residential property rental, under the French activity classification 68.20A. Its recorded start date is January 1, 2007.
As of October 20, 2026, the enterprise was listed as active.
Residential property rental and interior design are different activities. The registration does not establish that Lepère’s enterprise provides interior-design services, nor does it identify any particular design commissions or clients.
Her association with HOLDING PARFEUM
Another business connection appears in an official French commercial announcement published on June 10, 2015.
The Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales (BODACC) identifies Dorothée Lepère, using Pinault as her surname of use, as an associate of HOLDING PARFEUM.
The company was established in 2015 with activities involving holdings and investments. It was subsequently removed from the business register in December 2021.
The announcement confirms Lepère’s association with the company but does not establish that she managed it or held a controlling ownership stake.
Together, these records provide some information about her business connections beyond her former marriage. They do not, however, establish the size of her professional operations or her personal financial position.
Her Children: François and Mathilde Pinault
Dorothée Lepère and François-Henri Pinault have a son, François, and a daughter, Mathilde.
François, the older sibling, has generally received less mainstream media coverage than his sister.
Mathilde has developed a more visible public profile through equestrian sport and appearances connected with the fashion industry.
Her involvement in riding also provides one of the more detailed publicly documented accounts of Dorothée Lepère’s role as a parent.
How Dorothée introduced Mathilde to horseback riding
In a June 23, 2019 interview with Studforlife, Mathilde explained that her mother introduced her to horseback riding when she was young.
She recalled beginning with Shetland ponies in Paris, near the Luxembourg Gardens.
The childhood introduction developed into a lasting interest. Mathilde later pursued competitive show jumping, making equestrian sport a significant part of her public life.
In the same interview, Mathilde explained that her mother placed considerable importance on education. Riding was encouraged, but she was expected to keep up with her schoolwork.
These comments offer specific insight into Lepère’s involvement in her daughter’s early interests without requiring assumptions about the family’s private relationships.
The advice Mathilde remembers from her mother
Mathilde also discussed her mother’s influence in a November 11, 2021 interview with Vanity Fair Italia.
During a conversation about lessons learned from family members, Mathilde recalled an expression her mother had taught her: plumes de canard, meaning “duck feathers.”
Mathilde explained the expression as a way of approaching criticism and other people’s judgments without allowing them to become overwhelming.
The account gives another glimpse of Dorothée’s influence through her daughter’s own recollections. It is Mathilde’s description of advice she received, rather than a direct public statement from Lepère.
Dorothée Lepère’s Public Life After Divorce
Although Lepère has a relatively limited media profile, she has appeared at public events with members of her family since her divorce.
On July 3, 2015, she was photographed alongside François-Henri Pinault and Mathilde at Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping, an equestrian event in Paris.
Two years later, on July 2, 2017, she appeared with Mathilde at the same event. The photographs were credited to Bestimage and published with identifying captions by Purepeople.
These appearances connect naturally with Mathilde’s involvement in equestrian sport. They also establish that Lepère did not disappear entirely from public events after the end of her marriage.
Her public profile nevertheless remains comparatively limited. Most published information about her concerns her former marriage, family relationships or business registrations, rather than a sustained record of interviews or independently documented design projects.
As of October 2026, her registered residential-rental enterprise remained listed as active. That provides a dated indication of her business registration status, but it does not establish whether she currently undertakes interior-design work.
The most personal details of Dorothée Lepère’s public story come from Mathilde’s interviews: a childhood introduction to horseback riding, an emphasis on education and advice her daughter continued to remember as an adult.
Those accounts offer a more specific picture of Lepère than the familiar description of her as François-Henri Pinault’s former wife.
