Who

An heir to the cosmetics fortune founded by her grandmother, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer is the public face of Estée Lauder and one of New York's most prominent socialites. She's the daughter of Ronald Lauder and niece of Leonard Lauder.

Backstory

The granddaughter of Estée Lauder, the Queens native who started the family beauty company from her kitchen sink in 1946, Aerin was raised in New York (on Park Avenue), Washington, D.C. (when her dad worked in the Reagan administration), and Vienna (where her dad briefly served as ambassador) before graduating from Chapin and following in the Lauder family tradition of attending Penn. Aerin joined the family cosmetics company shortly after graduation: Starting off in product marketing, she quickly moved up the ranks (thanks to her talent and hard work, of course, not her last name), and took over as marketing chief in the late 1990s.

Now Estée Lauder's senior vice president and creative director, she's one of the most influential execs at the beauty giant, with broad responsibility over the company's public image. (It was Aerin, for example, who selected Gwyneth Paltrow and Liya Kebede as spokesmodels.) She's also styled herself as the embodiment of the brand—a chic thirty-something "working mom" (albeit one with gazillions in the bank and legions of staff to cater to every whim)—and it's her job to schmooze endlessly as the family's public emissary at parties and openings, at which she's regularly photographed with her trademark icy half-smile. In 2007, she stepped even further into the spotlight when she appeared as the face of the company's new fragrance line, Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, and opened a boutique at Bergdorfs. The shop features gifts personally selected by Lauder, like scented candles and coffee table books.

In person

Aerin has been a major social presence in the city for more than a decade: Her ascension to the very top of the social pecking order was confirmed when, at age 29, she became co-chair of the Met's Museum of Art's Costume Institute gala, a position once held by Jackie O. Aerin's invariably ultra-groomed appearance and apparently perfect family life (handsome hedge fund manager husband, two kids, luxurious homes) attract admiration and resentment in equal measure (bloggers reacted with particularly gleeful schadenfreude after Lauder was seen outside an event screaming and swearing into her cellphone at her tardy husband). Still, no one can question her commitment to maintaining the right image: She's a ubiquitous presence at galas around town for causes like the ABT, the Neue Gallerie (the museum her father founded), and the Museum of Modern Art.

Family ties

Aerin's uncle, Leonard Lauder, is chairman of the cosmetics company; her first cousin, William Lauder, is CEO. (He plans to step down in 2008 and turn over the job to Fabrizio Freda.) Aerin's sister, Jane, works at the company as well: She's a senior vice president of marketing. Her parents, Ron and Jo Carol, split in 2006 after 38 years of marriage.

Personal

Lauder married her college sweetheart, Eric Zinterhofer, in 1996; he's a Harvard business school grad who's now a partner at Leon Black's Apollo hedge fund. They have two sons—Will and Jack—and live in a Park Avenue apartment in the upper '60s (where Aerin reportedly has a mere two armoires full of shoes). They spend weekends in East Hampton at a 1950s Greek Revival mansion that used to belong to Estée.