Simone Micheline Bodin (8 May 1925 – 3 March 2015), known professionally as Bettina or Bettina Graziani, was a French fashion model of the 1940s and 1950s and an early muse to the fashion designer

Hubert de Givenchy Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 20 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professi ...

. She was a designer of knitwear and, later, a poet and composer.

Biography

Born in France, Simone Micheline Bodin was described as "a freckle-faced rail worker's daughter from Brittany" before becoming a model. She was renamed and recreated by

Jacques Fath Jacques Fath (6 September 1912 in Maisons-Laffitte, France – 13 November 1954 in Paris, France) was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the three dominant influences on immediate postwar haute couture, the others being Christia ...

, who told her "We already have a Simone; you look to me like a Bettina." Bodin was invited by

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Dior, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained promi ...

to join his fashion house which she refused, choosing instead to work for Fath. Bodin became one of the century's first

supermodel A supermodel is a highly paid fashion model who has a worldwide reputation and background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term became popular in the 1990s. Supermodels usually work for prominent fashion designers and clothin ...

s, rivalled in the 1940s only by

Barbara Goalen Barbara Goalen (1 January 1921 – 16 June 2002) was a British model who came to international prominence between 1945 and 1954, then gave up her career at the height of her success. Described as "the most photographed woman in Britain" and "argu ...

. She was associated with

Lucien Lelong Lucien Lelong (; 11 October 1889 – 11 May 1958) was a French couturier who was prominent from the 1920s to the 1940s. His couture fashion house was one of the largest in Paris in the interwar period, and Lelong was an important figure in the m ...

and Jacques Fath, but most importantly with Hubert de Givenchy, for whom she worked as a model and press agent. Givenchy named his first collection, which debuted in 1952, after her. One of his designs, the Byronesque "Bettina blouse", became a fashion icon in the early 1950s and inspired the bottle for the best-selling Givenchy perfume

Amarige Amarige is a perfume produced by French fashion house Givenchy. Amarige was introduced in 1991, created by perfumer A perfumer is an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a ''nose'' () due to their fi ...

. After a short marriage to Gilbert "Benno" Graziani (1922–2018), a French photographer and reporter, she became the companion of

Peter Viertel Peter Viertel (16 November 1920 – 4 November 2007) was an author and screenwriter. Biography Viertel was born to Jewish parents in Dresden, Germany, the writer and actress Salka Viertel and the writer Berthold Viertel. In 1928, his parents m ...

, the American screenwriter. Later she was the fiancée of

Prince Aly Khan Prince Aly Salomone Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was an Ismaili sayyid, socialite and ambassador for Pakistan. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jocke ...

, son of the

Aga Khan III Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), known as Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imam of the Nizari Isma'ili, Ism'aili branch of Shia Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of ...

, who briefly was the United Nations ambassador from Pakistan. She retired from modeling in 1955, after meeting Aly Khan. In 1960, Bettina, then pregnant with their child, survived the car accident that took the life of the prince; the shock of the accident later resulted in a miscarriage. After Khan's death, Bettina wrote the autobiography ''Bettina par Bettina''. She died at age 89 in 2015.Bettina Graziani
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graziani, Bettina 1925 births 2015 deaths French female models Models from Paris Place of birth missing