Collage & text by Mia Kingsley

I was inspired for this week’s ‘Retro Style Icon’ by last week’s, Suzy from Moonrise Kingdom listened to the French beauty by the sea in her underwear. It’s a quite liberating scene for the young character. So François Hardy was chosen.

François was born in Paris 1944. She was an anxious child due to an unconventional family set up for the 40s and 50s. Her parents had separated, so she lived with her mother who worked extremely hard for François and her sister in order to give them an education. It was on a rare occasion that her father made an appearance and brought Hardy a guitar as a present. Giving Hardy the opportunity to learn a couple of chords she had heard on the radio which transformed a timid child into a French pop sensation. She took Europe by the heart in the 60s with her first single recorded at the age of only 17!

She was thrown into a world of fame and became the iconic beauty we all know. Her classic ‘girl next door looks’ and attractive shyness made her desirable and popular to both men and women. Mick Jagger stated she was ‘the ideal woman’. A sweeping side fringe of chestnut brown hair, perfect lips and deeply soulful eyes accompanied by her smokey voice make her the ideal icon!

Click here to listen to Suzy’s favourite song 🙂