Givenchy Hat, Paris 1957. Frank Horvat and Bettina Graziani
Simone Micheline Bodin. This was the real name of one of French Fashion’s greatest muses in the 50s, Bettina Graziani. The model, known for her red hair and freckles and her close relationship with Hubert de Givenchy, passed away yesterday at the age of 90.
Bettina was France’s first supermodel in the glamorous ‘40s and ‘50s, rising in popularity thanks to legendary the Jacques Fath. He was in fact the one that gave her the name “Bettina”, as he already had a model named Simone.
Recently honoured with an exhibition of portraits at the Galleria Carla Sozzani in Milan and Paris’s Galerie Azzedine Alaia, it was made obvious that she not only inspired fashion designers, but also some of the most masterful photographers of the era: Irving Penn, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Erwin Blumenfeld, Robert Doiseneau…
Here’s a few of our favorite pictures of Bettina; in her day known as “the most photographed woman in France”.
Bettina in a suit by Madeleine de Rauch, 1953. © Georges Dambier
Bettina & Sophie – The Double 1950. LIFE magazine
Bettina & Sophie – The Double 1950. LIFE magazine
Portrait of Bettina, 1951. © Henry Cartier Bresson/Magnum Photos
Fashion shoot for Vogue (September 1949). © Robert Doisneau/Gamma Rapho
Bettina Graziani, 1951. © Arik Nepo
Bettina wearing Christian Dior, ELLE, 1955. © Georges Dambier
Bettina Graziani, Sophie Malgat and Ivy Nicholson wearing Givenchy. © Nat Farbman
Bettina posing in front of a Van Cleef And Arpels display window. France, Circa, 1953. © Getty images
Bettina wearing Givenchy, 1952. © Nat Farbman
