Lara Cosima Henckel von Donnersmarck
Maria Lara Cosima Gräfin Henckel von Donnersmarck, known as Lara Cosima, is a German-American model, socialite, and social media influencer. In 2023, she was selected to open Le Bal des débutantes in Paris, where she was presented as a debutante. She made her runway haute couture modeling debut at the Paris Fashion Week in 2025.
Early life and family
Henckel von Donnersmarck was born on 17 May 2003 in Florida. Her parents are both German: film director Count Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and Christiane Asschenfeldt, a lawyer and the first International Executive Director of Creative Commons. Henckel von Donnersmarck grew up primarily in Los Angeles, California.She is a member of the House of Henckel von Donnersmarck, an Austro-Hungarian noble family. She is the granddaughter of Count Leo-Ferdinand Henckel von Donnersmarck, a former president of the German division of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and Countess Anna-Maria von Berg, a left-wing political activist. Her granduncle, Count Gregor Henckel Donnersmarck, is a Catholic priest and the Abbot Emeritus of Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Her great-grandfather, Count Friedrich-Carl Henckel von Donnersmarck, was a Polish scholastic philosopher and landowner whose castle, Schloss Romolkwitz, was burned down by the Soviet Army during the flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II. She is a great-great granddaughter of the industrialist Count Edwin Henckel von Donnersmarck.
Career
Since Fall of 2022, Henckel von Donnersmarck has been studying fashion design at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. She spent two consecutive summers interning for Dior's haute couture division in Paris. She amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram by creating edits of her student life in New York and Paris and by posting "GRWM" videos in Paris. By December 2023, her videos had been viewed over 100 million times. Henckel von Donnersmarck received both admiration and criticism online for her videos, showcasing a luxurious Parisian life, and was accused by some viewers of being a "nepo baby." In 2023 and 2024, false accusations circulated on social media platforms that Henckel von Donnersmarck's family had aided the Nazis during World War II.In 2024, she modelled in a L'Officiel editorial by Matthias Ogger and Julien Vassel.
On 29 January 2025, Henckel von Donnersmarck made her Haute Couture debut as a runway model, walking the Giorgio Armani Privé show "Lumières" at Paris Fashion Week and the Giorgio Armani Show at Milan Fashion Week. She has often referenced Giorgio Armani as one of the designers she admired most and whose work she studied intensely at Parsons.