Carla Bruni

Bruni signed with City Models in 1987, aged 19.[7] Paul Marciano, president and creative director of Guess? Inc., came across her picture among composite cards of aspiring models and chose her to model with Estelle Lefébure in campaigns for Guess? jeans.[7] Bruni subsequently worked for designers and fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Yves Saint-Laurent, Shiatzy Chen, Chanel and Versace.[7] By the 1990s, Bruni was among the 20 highest-paid fashion models, earning US$7.5 million in her peak year. While modeling, Bruni dated Eric Clapton, then Mick Jagger.[9] On 11 April 2008, a 1993 nude photograph of Bruni taken during her modelling career sold at auction for US$91,000 (€65,093) – more than 60 times the expected price.[10] She was a modeling subject of a 1999 trompe-l'œil wool-knit dress body painting by Joanne Gair that is included in Gair's second book, Body Painting: Masterpieces by Joanne Gair.[11]

Bruni with actor Vincent Perez at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

In 1997, Bruni quit the world of fashion to devote herself to music.[3] She sent her lyrics to Julien Clerc in 1999, based on which he composed six tracks on his 2000 album Si j'étais elle.[12]

In 2002, her debut album Quelqu'un m'a dit, produced by Louis Bertignac, was released in Europe being a surprise hit, selling 2 million copies.[12] Three songs from the album appear in Hans Canosa's 2005 American film Conversations with Other Women,[13] the song Le Plus Beau du quartier was used in H&M's Christmas 2006 commercial, and the title track was featured in the 2003 movie Le Divorce[14] and in the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer.[15] In January 2010, her song "L'amoureuse" was featured in an episode of NBC's Chuck, "Chuck vs. First Class".[16]

In 2004 Carla Bruni won an EBBA Award. Every year the European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA) recognize the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album.

In 2005, she wrote the lyrics for ten out of twelve songs for Louis Bertignac's new album Longtemps, and performed two duets with him on the album, Les Frôleuses and Sans toi.[17] In 2006, Bruni recorded "Those Little Things", an English-language translation of the Serge Gainsbourg song "Ces petits riens" for the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. She took part in the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in a parade paying tribute to the Italian flag.

Her second album, No Promises containing poems by William Butler Yeats, Emily Dickinson, W. H. Auden, Dorothy Parker, Walter de la Mare, and Christina Rossetti, set to music, was released in January 2007.

She continued recording after her marriage. She released her third album Comme si de rien n'était on 11 July 2008. The songs are self-penned except for one rendition of "You Belong to Me" and another song featuring Michel Houellebecq's poem La Possibilité d'une île set to music.[18] Royalties from the album will be donated to unidentified charitable and humanitarian causes.[19]

Bruni sang for Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday on 18 July 2009 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.[20]

In September 2009, she recorded a duet with Harry Connick, Jr. for the French edition of his album Your Songs. They sang The Beatles' song "And I Love Her".[21] The album was released in France on 26 October 2009.[22]

Following months of speculation, in a television interview broadcast on 23 November 2009, Bruni revealed that she had accepted a role in a forthcoming Woody Allen film. She admitted her reasoning for embarking on the Paris production; "I'm not an actress at all. Perhaps I'll be completely hopeless but I can't miss an opportunity like this one. When I'm a grandmother I'd like to be able to say I made a film with Woody Allen."[23][24] The film, Midnight in Paris, was released in 2011; Bruni appeared as a guide at the Musée Rodin who discusses sculptor Auguste Rodin with the leading characters.

In January 2010, she was named in Tatler's top 10 best-dressed list.

In September 2010, she contributed a cover of David Bowie's "Absolute Beginners" for the War Child charity record We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie (Manimal Vinyl). They also released the track as a split 7" vinyl split with UK legends, Duran Duran.[25]

Italian singer/songwriter Simone Cristicchi's entry in the 2010 San Remo Italian Song Festival was the song "Meno Male", with the chorus lyrics of "Meno male che c'è Carla Bruni" ("Thank goodness for Carla Bruni"). The song appears to mock Bruni and her husband, but Cristicchi stated in an interview for Italian television weekly TV Sorrisi e Canzoni "I use sarcasm to explain our Italian way of always wanting to follow any type of gossip without being interested in real problems."[26] Bruni was to be a guest singer at the 2010 San Remo festival but withdrew from participating.[27]

In April 2013, Bruni's fourth album Little French Songs was released.

In September 2017, Bruni, along with models Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen and Cindy Crawford, closed the Versace spring/summer 2018 fashion show, which was an homage to the late Gianni Versace.[28]

Bruni presented two 3-part music series on BBC Radio 2: Postcards from Paris in 2014 [29] and C'est La Vie in 2018.[30]

Following Bruni's marriage to President Nicholas Sarkozy on 2 February 2008, she moved into the Elysee Palace for the remainder of Sarkozy's five-year term. Bruni was given an office on the east wing of the Elysee Palace which was known as "Madame's wing" and was assigned a private secretary.[31]

Although constitutionally, Bruni had no official role within government, she assisted her husband with a number of official obligations. She also accompanied Sarkozy on state visits, most notably, to the United Kingdom, where her presence led to the visit being widely publicized.[32] Bruni also accompanied Sarkozy on a state visit to meet the Dalai Lama in August 2008.[33]

In 2008, Bruni caused controversy when she spoke against the extradition of Marina Petrella, an Italian far-left terrorist. Petrella had murdered a police commissioner and assisted in the kidnapping of Italian politician, Aldo Moro. Petrella had been living in France since 1993 and had not been extradited due to the Mitterrand doctrine. Sarkozy eventually chose not to extradite Petrella.[34]

Bruni has represented The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria numerous times as an ambassador and has visited Burkina Faso and Benin while representing the organisation.[35][36][37]

In 2010, Forbes magazine ranked Bruni as the 35th most powerful woman in the world.[38]

Nicholas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni leaving the Elysee Palace, 15 May 2012

Bruni's political views have been inconsistent over the years though she defines herself as a left-winger. She has defended Nicolas Sarkozy and the UMP numerous times since becoming the First Lady of France and leaving the office.

During the 2007 French Presidential Election, Bruni stated that she would have voted for Ségolène Royal who was running against her future husband, Nicholas Sarkozy. Bruni said her lack of French Citizenship disallowed her from voting but she would have voted left wing due to it being family tradition.[39] In an October 2011 interview with the British newspaper The Sunday Herald, Bruni said "My family have always voted to the left. It's tradition. I'll never vote right wing."[40]

In an interview with Le Point, Bruni said, when asked about her political leanings, "I am left wing, but I'm not against my husband or his party. I am not an activist." In a May 2011 interview with Le Parisien, Bruni said she no longer felt left wing and identified as an ultra-Sarkozyist.[41]

Bruni does not identify as a feminist, telling Vogue Magazine, "My generation doesn't need feminism...I'm not at all an active feminist. On the contrary, I'm a bourgeois."[42]

She is not opposed to same-sex marriage and in favor of adoption.[43][44]

Carla Bruni with Michelle Obama, 3 April 2009

Bruni met the recently divorced French president Nicolas Sarkozy in November 2007, at a dinner party.[45] After a brief romance they married on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. The marriage is Bruni's first and Sarkozy's third. Bruni obtained French nationality not long afterwards.[1] She has since made contradictory statements as to whether she still holds Italian citizenship as well.[46] On 28 April 2014 episode of the Ellen DeGeneres Show, she confirmed that she still holds Italian citizenship.[47] Besides her native Italian, Bruni can speak fluent English and French.

Following her marriage to Sarkozy, in February 2008, Bruni continued accompanying him on state visits, including to the United Kingdom in March 2008, which created a sensation in the international press and for the public in both Britain and France.[48] She had an office and staff at her disposal in the East wing of the Élysée Palace.[49]

There was controversy on the eve of the state visit to the UK, with the publication by Christie's auction house of a nude photograph of Bruni taken during her career as a model. The photograph sold for $91,000.[50] There was also great interest in Bruni's wardrobe, which was Christian Dior, seen as a diplomatic choice, since Dior is a French design house but the wardrobe was designed by John Galliano, a British designer.[51] Another controversy was the use of a popular photo of the French President and Bruni in the print advertising of Ryanair. The couple was awarded damages by a French court,[52] which they donated to Les Restos du Cœur, an organisation that provides meals to the homeless.

In December 2008, Bruni sued the makers of a bag featuring a nude shot taken during her youth. Clothes designer Pardon has produced 10,000 of the shopping bags emblazoned with the nude photo taken in 1993, showing Bruni staring at the camera with her crossed hands covering her crotch.[53]

In late August 2010, Iran's state-run daily paper Kayhan called Bruni a 'prostitute' after she had condemned the stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for adultery in an open letter, along with several French celebrities, including actress Isabelle Adjani.[54][55] The paper later also called for Bruni to be put to death for supporting Sakineh Ashtiani, and for what the paper described as Bruni's moral corruption and having had extra-marital affairs herself. Even though Kayhan is a state-sponsored paper that, along with other state-run Iranian media, continued its tirade against Bruni, Iranian officials tried to distance themselves from that violent stance and openly condemned it, while a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry criticized the comments as being 'unacceptable'.[56] Then-President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also condemned the remark made by the paper.[57]

On 19 October 2011, Bruni gave birth to a daughter, Giulia, in the Clinique de la Muette, in Paris.[58]

Bruni at the 2009 NATO summit, 4 April 2009.

Involved for years in humanitarian and charity work, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy became world ambassador for the protection of mothers and children against HIV in 2008.[59] In April 2009, she launched the Fondation Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, to promote access to culture and knowledge for all.[60][61]

In a letter of support to the association People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), she took a position against fur in fashion.[62]

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is involved in various charitable activities. She gave her royalties for her album Comme si de rien n'était to the Fondation de France,[63][64] and supports different events or causes, such as the Born HIV Free campaign,[65] animal rights,[66][67] the Nelson Mandela foundation, the French association AIDES for AIDS research, the French association La Chaîne de l'Espoir or the association Warchild UK. She also participated in a concert with Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin for the 91st birthday of Nelson Mandela,[68][69] and recorded a song for the album We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie.[70] She is involved in the promotion of young artists, and did a duet with French singer Marc Lavoine for the Prix Constantin, an annual French music prize awarded to newer artists.[71][72] Bruni met the Dalai Lama in August 2008 at Lerab Ling, a Buddhist temple on a hill in Languedoc, France.[73] Bruni received Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to France in September 2008.[74]

Bruni visited New York City in September 2008 with her husband, where she attended a meeting on poverty and female mortality with Queen Rania and Wendi Murdoch, met for lunch with First Lady Laura Bush at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy and attended the General Assembly in the UN with her husband.[75]

She attended state dinners with the Emir of Qatar and wife and with Iraq's president in Paris in 2009. She and Sheikha Mozah (wife of Emir of Qatar) will be working together on the topic of education promotion.[76] Bruni visited Doha on invitation of Sheikha Mozah in November 2009.[76] Bruni took up the cause of an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, fighting a death penalty by stoning.[77][78]

In April 2009, Bruni was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III on the occasion of the couple's Spanish State Visit.[79] In January 2010, Bruni visited Benin, her second visit as ambassador for The Global Fund.[80]

She was critical of Pope Benedict XVI on the controversial topic of religion and AIDS.[81] According to Le Canard Enchainé, Bruni was asked by Vatican officials not to join her husband in an official visit for fear that the Italian newspapers would reprint racy pictures dating from her modelling career.[82]

In 2001, Bruni had her first child, son Aurélien, with philosophy professor Raphaël Enthoven. Bruni has been described as having been the mistress of Enthoven's father, journalist Jean-Paul Enthoven, when she began her relationship with the younger Enthoven, who was at the time married to novelist Justine Lévy; Bruni claims that she only went out with Jean-Paul Enthoven a few times and was never his lover, and that Raphaël Enthoven was already divorcing his wife when she encountered him months after last seeing Jean-Paul.[3] The song "Raphaël" from Bruni's album Quelqu'un m'a dit is about her relationship with Raphaël Enthoven, and Justine Lévy's 2004 book Rien de Grave (published in English in 2005 as Nothing Serious) is about the end of her marriage; a character named "Paula" represents Bruni.[3][83] Bruni told Vanity Fair that Raphaël Enthoven ended their relationship in May 2007 because he felt they had become "like friends," and that they remained on good terms.[3]

• Spain: Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, 2009[87]
• Benin: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, 2010[88]