Edwige Belmore

Edwige, also known as Edwige Belmore and Edwige Braun-Belmore and la reine du punk a Paris (February 26, 1957 – September 22, 2015) was a French model, singer, artist and actress. She was considered a blonde icon of 1980s No Wave New York/France connection after she appeared on the cover of Façade magazine (No. 4) kissing Andy Warhol on the cheek. The magazine cover text read: “The Queen of Punk and the Pope of Pop”.

Edwige founded (with Claude Arto) the post-punk synth pop musical group Mathématiques modernes with which she sang, and released four albums. She was for a time the doorman/bouncer/promoter of the club Le Palace. In New York she promoted nights at Area, Danceteria, Tunnel, and The Palladium Niteclub. She was photographed by famous photographers of the day like Helmut Newton, Maripol, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Pierre et Gilles who photographed her as Sainte Gertrude the Great. She walked the runway for Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler. Throughout the 80s, Edwige went back and forth from New York City and Paris, where she sang at Les Bains-Douches.

Biography Edwige Bessuand was born on February 26, 1957 in Paris, and was taken into state care after being abandoned.

Edwige went to live with Maud Molyneux and Paquita Paquin, on the rue Vavin in Montparnasse, where she gradually turned into a punk rocker, shaving her hair and dyeing it platinum blond when it grew back. She spent her nights at Le Sept with Molyneux and Paquin, at Le Bains Douches where she sometimes performed on stage or at La Main Bleue with Paquita and Eva Ionesco.

In 1979, Edwige founded (with Claude Arto) the post-punk synth pop musical group Mathématiques modernes with which she sang and released four albums. She was for a time the doorman/bouncer/promoter of the club Le Palace.

Edwige met and befriended Paloma Picasso, who introduced her to the world of Andy Warhol and the jet-set. She became friends with Yves Saint Laurent and Loulou de la Falaise.

Edwige modeled for Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler. During her career, she was photographed several times by Pierre and Gilles, both for the press and for advertising. for a rarely published photo,

In 2012, Edwige appeared in a documentary by Jérôme de Missolz, Des jeunes gens mödernes. In the film, a group of young artists, fascinated by the punk style, meet a music critic from the period.

At the estimated age of 58, Edwige died of untreated chronic hepatitis on September 22, 2015 at a hospital in Florida.

Discography with Mathématiques Modernes Jacno – Disco Rough / Rectangle (1980) Paris Tokyo (1981) Les Visiteurs Du Soir (1981)

Films Year Title Role Notes 1975 L'héroïne de l'enfance 1979 Dirty Dreamer Wanda Edwige Gruss 1978 The Secret Son The prostitute 1980 Scopitone (Short) La chef de gang 1981 La marque du destin 1982 Chassé-croisé Le professeur de piano 1985 The Way It Is Rebecca/Aglaonice 1988 Deux ombres (Short) La mère de Paul 1988 Because the Dawn (Short) Marie 2016 The Incomparable Rose Hartman (Documentary) 2014 The Starck Club (Documentary) 2011 Kids of Töday (as Edwige Belmore) 2004 Rose Palace (Documentary)