Photo: Courtesy of theredlist.com.
Bettina, the first French supermodel, died yesterday at the age of 90 in France. Born Simone Michelin Bodin, she changed her name to Bettina because Jacques Fath, one of her first clients and greatest collaborator, already had a model called Simone, and an era was born. Bettina helped redefine what Parisian glamour meant in the post-war era. With her red hair and quizzical expression, she became the muse of many generations to come. Farth may have been her break out client, but when she started working with Hubert de Givenchy, Farth’s former assistant, the legend was born. Givenchy named his debut collection after her and the iconic Bettina blouse is inspired by her.
She became a true hit after cutting her hair in 1959 at the request of Fath and she made it into the cover of L’Express. This look foresaw the great beatnik look of the 60s and helped solidify, both her and Fath, as visionaries in the fashion industry. Reminiscing of the days when she helped inspire ready-to-wear, she said: “But the women in the street were not dressed nicely at all. There was such a difference. There was no ready-to-wear, and ordinary women used to make their own clothes or use the little dressmakers. Chanel changed all that.” For her everyday look, Bettina would wear long skirts, men’s shirts, and flat shoes, a different image from the glamorous woman in couture who graced all the magazines and inspired so many collections.
In fact, when she first started out in the fashion world she had only a portfolio of her own sketches and got her first modeling job on the spot. This feat she attributes not to her look but her personality: “Because I can’t say I was the most beautiful. It’s not a question of beauty. You have to have a personality. And it’s all about the expression of the body.” With this insight she foresaw what would make the greatest supermodels of our days such staples. Not their looks exactly – even though they are beautiful – but the persona they portray and the mystery they exude.
Even though she retired from modeling in 1955 at the request of her husband, Prince Aly Khan, she remained a mainstay in the fashion world. Last fall she was honored with an exhibition of pictures from her modeling days at the Galleria Carla Sozani in Milan and Gallerie Azzedine Alaia in Paris. In a profile made about her for Vogue in 2009 she stated that “fashion always survives”. She remains proof of this as her memory and her legacy live on today and redefine a new culture of glamour and ready-to-wear.
– by Camila Abisambra
