Yé-Yé Spirit. Born in 1944, Hardy found herself growing up in the years of great social changes winds of youth rebellion which gained strength from American rock ‘n’ roll and British beat. In France it was called the Yé-Yé movement, but labels aside, it was the same ferment that led to the myth of Swinging London, where Françoise felt at home as in her Paris. She became one of the great inspirations of style of that generation with its jaunty hair, clothes skinny and minimalist makeup that challenged the beauty standards of the time.
Music, the greatest love. After her modeling career, Hardy’s unique voice and personality caught the attention of music producer Jacques Dutronc. Their collaboration led to “All boys and girls” from 1962, a hymn that challenged traditional music with its fresh approach to teenage love. Many other songs followed on the same note of youthful melancholy, perfect for strumming from the passenger seat of a Citroën 2CV. Although she was actually attracted to other engines. Those of motorcycles for example, like the Honda CB with which she rode around in the late sixties arrondissement of the French capital. Among the first girls cafe racerone style still on the crest of the wave today between leather jackets and motorcycle boots.
Formula 1 girl, thanks to a movie. Although Hardy’s film career perhaps takes a backseat to her songs, a good part of her success came from the world of celluloid, where her Yé-Yé aesthetic and never-screaming beauty helped her get cast in several films. Perhaps the most famous of her is Grand Prix, the great 1966 classic set in the world of Formula 1. An epic film by the standards of the time, both for the mix of movie stars and real drivers (including Hill, Fangio and Farina) and for the hyper-realistic shooting techniques of the crazy races of the single-seaters on the track. Hardy played the girlfriend of the Italian driver Barlini, never behind the wheel except in a few backstage shots from the set which established her as one of the figures who most influenced the aesthetics of girls with a penchant for motors. An association of ideas that led it to be frequently portrayed with fast cars and highly desired by the young people of the time, images that will forever celebrate androgynous beauty, but never tomboyish.
