a timeless fashion idol

The androgynous silhouette of Françoise Hardy, who did not like her body, became the archetype of pop elegance for several generations of women and, in her time, the incarnation of the new Parisienne: chic and bohemian.

First the incarnation of the liberating outfits of the yéyé then an icon of timeless, nonchalant Parisian chic imitated for half a century, Françoise Hardy had become, somewhat in spite of herself, a multi-generational fashion idol. “Mademoiselle Hardy” appeared for the first time singing on stage in 1962, wearing a shapeless black sweater and blonde bangs that blocked half of her face.

The 1m72 young woman, with an androgynous physique, does not like her body. She would say decades later that she had always been “ill at ease”before becoming the desirable archetype of so many generations of women. “The ‘flare’ jean combo [évasé sous le genou]short fur coat and clogs that Françoise Hardy favored in the 60s is a look very sought after by fashionistas today”thus recalled the magazine Marie Claire in 2018.

The young singer, catapulted to the star of yéyé with All the boys and girls, will slip into more daring looks in volumes and materials, from trapeze outfits to leather pants. Françoise, the first name of an entire generation, embodies the fashion break of the 1960s, consigning to oblivion the exuberant pin-ups of the previous decade, embodied by Marilyn Monroe.

Her outfits go from very short to very loose, from feminine to masculine, blowing a breeze of freedom heralding the generational revolution to come in 1968. In her mini pinafore dress worn with mid-calf white boots, Françoise Hardy symbolizes ‘Today, femininity has broken away from the times.

Jean-Marie Périer, the magazine’s photographer Hi buddies with whom she had a stormy love affair, introduced her in 1965 to a fashion designer who would change her life: André Courrèges. The stylist – in the midst of a return of “hype” among young people in the 2020s – will become an intimate.

“Looking back, if I had to have a link with a great couturier, it could only be him because he is different from the others. He is a poet, a dreamer, a pure person”she wrote in her memoirs The Despair of the Apes and Other Trifles. The singer of time of love also becomes the muse of another big name in fashion, Paco Rabanne, also launched like a rocket in the retrofuturist trend.

The gold metallic mini dress she wore in 1968 “is a huge publicity stunt” for the designer, recalled Delphine Pinasa, director of the National Center for Stage Costumes, to AFP in May. “Thanks to this little dress she wore, it also put him in the spotlight.”

The metallic jumpsuit, still signed Rabane, that she wears on stage seems to fall like a veil over her long, slender silhouette but in reality weighs around ten kilos and turns into an ordeal, Françoise Hardy later confided to the press.

She also slips like a second skin into Yves Saint Laurent’s tuxedos, whose ensemble in grain de powder or velvet, with white organdy shirt and lavaliere, is a hit at Parisian events at a time when the dress is still the non-negotiable symbol of evening wear.

Françoise Hardy, also adored across the Channel, quickly became the incarnation of the new Parisian, chic in all circumstances with a “je ne sais quoi” that transformed ‘flare’ pants, the blazer and long fine hair into a moment of pure bohemian.

Her career behind her, the singer purified her image even more, adopting the eternal jeans and a boyish cut kept naturally white, long before it became a committed gesture.