Aimée de Heeren

Aimée de Heeren, born Aimée Soto-Maior de Sá or Aimée de Sotomayor (3 August 1903 – 14 September 2006) was a Brazilian socialite. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1996.

She was the sister of Vera de Sa Sottomaior, who had been married to John Felix Charles "Ivor" Bryce, Randal Plunket, 19th Lord Dunsany and Sir Walter Frederic Pretyman. Through her sister, she is the aunt of the 20th Lord Dunsany.

Aimée de Heeren was born in Castro, Paraná. She was the daughter of Genésio de Sá Soutomayor and Julieta Sampaio Quentel.

In the late 1920s, she met American inventor Thomas Edison.

In the 1930s, she moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she married Luis Simões Lopes, chief of staff of President Getúlio Vargas. According to rumours, de Heeren was the mistress of the officially married President, and lived at the Catete Palace, the seat of the President of Brazil. De Heeren never admitted to nor denied being his mistress.

Decades after the Vargas' death in 1954, his secret diary was published with multiple references to his "bem-amada" (English: "beloved"). Some historians believe that the "bem-amada" was Aimée de Heeren.

In 1938, she was exiled from Brazil and emigrated to France. In Paris, she met the fashion designer Coco Chanel, with whom she was seen at many receptions, including the two Circus Bal receptions given by Elsie de Wolfe. Chanel and Aimée de Heeren remained close friends, particularly towards the end of Chanel's life.

According to the US Vogue editor Bettina Ballard, Aimée de Heeren—at the time called Aimée Lopez or Aimée Lopez de Sotto Major—made a huge impact on French society.

I particularly remember the season when Aimee was lionized in Paris. She was so pretty, so genuinely nice, carried gaiety with her like a fan, and she was almost eaten alive. Hung with diamonds, she was pushed from fittings to balls, never allowed a moment for private conquest because every hostess needed her for her party to prove that she could draw the lioness of the season. Aimee just wanted to dance and flirt and have fun. That wasn't what Paris expected of her.

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