French Actress and Style Icon Brigitte Bardot Dies at 91

by · WWD

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Brigitte Bardot, the actress whose sensual style defined French fashion in the ‘50s and ‘60s and helped usher in the sexual revolution, has died at the age of 91.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the film star and animal rights activist, often referred to simply by her initials B.B., whose face was used as a model for the bust of Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic. 

“Through her films, her voice, her dazzling fame, her initials, her sorrows, her generous devotion to animals, and a face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom. She represented a French way of being and a universal brilliance. She moved us deeply. Today, we mourn a legend of the century,” Macron said in a statement. 

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French actress Brigitte Bardot at London Airport, 2nd September 1966. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Getty Images

Bardot, who became a global sex symbol via roles in films such as “And God Created Woman” and “Contempt,” put Saint-Tropez on the map and popularized her uniform of sailor stripe shirts and ballet flats. 

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Bardot’s look was unusual in the pristine celebrity circles she inhabited. She often walked around barefoot, wore miniskirts to the Elysée Palace and sparked many an imitation of her falsely messy blonde locks and black cat’s eye eyeliner.

That look has become a byword for French girl style and continues to influence designers like Hedi Slimane, who showcased his spring 2023 collection for Celine in Saint-Tropez.

Simon Porte Jacquemus, meanwhile, explained that he decided to stage his 15th anniversary show at Casa Malaparte, the modernist Italian villa set on a clifftop in Capri, because of its central role in “Contempt,” which he described as one of his favorite films. 

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, it features Bardot sunbathing nude on the rooftop of the red, arrow-shaped building. 

Pierre Balmain designed costumes for Bardot in “And God Created Woman,” cementing her sex kitten persona, but the brand she was most closely associated with was Repetto, whose signature ballet flats she wore in the film.   

In a series of Stories on Instagram, the French dancewear brand recalled how Bardot, then a young dancer, walked into founder Rose Repetto’s workshop in 1956 and asked her to design a city shoe as light as a ballet slipper. 

This marked the creation of the brand’s first footwear for outdoor use – the Cendrillon model that is still a staple in its collection today. 

“Some personalities embody the very essence of Repetto. Bridging artistic heritage and contemporary vision, these iconic figures have shaped the house’s history, giving life to its unique and timeless style, among them, Brigitte Bardot,” it said.   

Denim brand Seafarer, another Bardot favorite, used archival photos of the blonde bombshell to promote its revival in 2013. She also licensed her name to a ready-to-wear collection, launched in 2011. 

Brigitte BardotParis Internationale Presse/Fairchild Archive

After retiring from acting in the early ‘70s, she dedicated herself to animal welfare through the Brigitte Bardot Foundation and frequently made headlines for controversial statements aligned with the far right.

Famous for her tumultuous love life, she was married four times: to director Roger Vadim; actor Jacques Charrier, with who she had a son, Nicolas; millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs, and Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.