yesterday's muse #15 - bettina

Simone Micheline Bodin Graziani, born in Laval, France in 1925, was known professionally as Bettina, a name given to her by designer Pierre Balmain. in the 1950s she was a leading French fashion model and early muse to Hubert de Givenchy, who named his first collection after her in 1952. the Bryonesque "Bettina" blouse, featured in this collection, became an iconic style in the early 1950s and inspired the bottle for the best-selling Givenchy parfum 'Amarige'.

after a short marriage to French journalist Gilbert Graziani, she became the companion of Peter Viertel, an American screenwriter. then, in 1955, Bettina retired from modeling when she became engaged to Prince Aly Khan, the United Nations ambassador for Pakistan. in 1960, while Bettina was pregnant with their child, the couple had a car accident that the prince did not survive. the shock of the accident later resulted in Bettina's miscarriage. after Aly Khan's death, Bettina wrote her memoir, 'Bettina par Bettina'.