About Bettina Graziani
Lived 1925 – 2015 (aged 89). Bettina Graziani was a French model.
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 before becoming a model. She was renamed and recreated by Jacques Fath, who told her "We already have a Simone; you look to me like a Bettina."
Bodin became one of the century's first supermodels, rivalled in the 1940s only by Barbara Goalen. She was associated with Lucien Lelong 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.
After a short marriage to Gilbert "Benno" Graziani (1922–2018), a French photographer and reporter, she became the companion of Peter Viertel, the American screenwriter. Later she was the fiancée of Prince Aly Khan, son of the Aga Khan III, 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.
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Important facts
People in Bettina Graziani's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Bettina Graziani's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Bettina Graziani?
fashion model
When was Bettina Graziani born?
Bettina Graziani was born on 8 May 1925 in Laval.
When did Bettina Graziani die?
Bettina Graziani died on 2 March 2015 in 14th arrondissement of Paris.
What was Bettina Graziani's occupation?
Bettina Graziani was a model.
What nationality was Bettina Graziani?
Bettina Graziani was French.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Bettina Graziani. https://biography.guide/bettina-graziani/
MLA: "Bettina Graziani." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/bettina-graziani/.
Chicago: "Bettina Graziani." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/bettina-graziani/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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