Simone D'Aillencourt or d'Aillencourt (née Daillencourt, 22 September 1930 – 23 July 2017) was a French model and

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...

. Her career in modeling, during which she achieved significant success, took place from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s. She is best known as the subject of

Melvin Sokolsky Melvin Sokolsky (October 9, 1933 – August 29, 2022) was an American photographer and film director. Early life Born in New York City in 1933, Sokolsky was raised on the Lower East Side. He had no formal training in photography, but started to u ...

's "Bubble" photographic series taken in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' in 1963. She had two daughters during her marriage to

José Bénazéraf José Bénazéraf (8 January 1922 – 1 December 2012) was a French filmmaker and producer who specialised in erotic films. Life and career Bénazéraf was born in Casablanca, French Morocco on 8 January 1922. After completing his studies ...

Biography

Simone D'Aillencourt was born on 22 September 1930 in

Vizille Vizille (; ) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Sights Vizille is the home of the Musée de la Révolution française, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French Revolution ...

, the daughter of Leon and Anna Daillencourt. Her activities in the modeling profession began in England. D'Aillencourt began her successful career in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1954 after a visit by Lucie Clayton. She posed for the British magazine ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' and then went back and forth between Britain and France. She worked regularly for

Pierre Cardin Pierre Cardin (born Pietro Costante Cardin; 2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020) was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometry, geometric shap ...

, sometimes for Jacques Heim, and posed for various magazines such as ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', ''

L'Officiel ''L'Officiel'' (; stylised in all caps), full name ''L'Officiel de la couture et de la mode de Paris'' ("The Official ublicationof Paris Couture and Fashion"), is a French bimonthly fashion magazine. It has been published in Paris since 1921 a ...

'', ''

Vogue Paris ''Vogue France'' (stylised in all caps) is the French edition of '' Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'' from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been regarded as one of the top fashion ...

'' or also ''

Le Jardin des Modes ''Le Jardin des Modes'' was a French language women's fashion magazine published monthly in France between 1922 and 1997. History and profile The magazine was first published in April 1922 as ''L'Illustration des Modes'' and aimed to a cutting e ...

''. Due to her job, she traveled many times, posing for William Klein for whom she would become one of his favourites,

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clie ...

, John French,

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

, or also French photographer Georges Dambier or

Jeanloup Sieff Jeanloup Sieff (November 30, 1933 – September 20, 2000) was a French photographer. He was born in Paris to Polish parents. He was a photography student of Gertrude Fehr. He is famous for his portraits of politicians, famous artists, landscapes, ...

, who "often photographed" according to him. Independent while the agencies are then little developed, she was contacted by

Eileen Ford Eileen Cecile Ford (née Otte; March 25, 1922 – July 9, 2014) was an American modeling agency executive. Along with her husband Gerard W. Ford, Gerard "Jerry" Ford, she co-founded Ford Models in 1946, which emerged as one of the earliest and m ...

and invited to New York. She then met the influential

Diana Vreeland Diana Vreeland (September 29, 1903 – August 22, 1989) was an American fashion columnist and editor. She worked for the fashion magazine ''Harper's Bazaar'' and as editor-in-chief at '' Vogue'', later becoming a special consultant to the Costume ...

, which further propelled her career. In early 1963, D'Aillencourt was selected by

for his "Bubble" series for ''Harper's Bazaar''. She had her test shot in colour taken in New York, which the staff of ''Harper's Bazaar'' approved. She flew to Paris on 20 January 1963 to have her photos taken by Sokolsky. During the shoot, the Bubble that D'Aillencourt was in was lowered too far into the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, which damaged the designer shoes that she was wearing. D'Aillencourt made her final series of photographs in India, with photographer Henry Clarke, in 1969 after a successful career of 15 years. Throughout her career, she always kept with the trends over time, from the sophistication of the 1950s to the greatest freedom of clothing the following decade. Some time after she stopped modeling, she founded a modeling agency in Paris, Model International, which quickly grew, and then a second agency of a more modest size, Image. She was married to

, their second daughter Béatrice also having integrated modeling as a booker. In 2008, D'Aillencourt attended the festival at

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

to celebrate the exhibitions of Sokolsky's work. She died in the

15th arrondissement of Paris The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the Rive ...

on 23 July 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Aillencourt, Simone 1930 births 2017 deaths People from Vizille French female models Talent agents