The Many Lives of Arielle Dombasle

Arielle Dombasle seems capable of almost anything. She is a singer, actress, director, model, and burlesque dancer widely considered a gay icon and a creative muse. She has inspired the work of legendary film directors like Eric Rohmer and Alain Robbe-Grillet, inspired some of the world’s great fashion designers including Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, and Thierry Mugler, released 10 albums and 21 singles, and directed four movies herself. She sings bel cantos in Italian, speaks Spanish as a first language, loves reading Moliére but dislikes the sound of French in song, and professes a fondness for America after spending her earliest years in Connecticut. She is one half of what is commonly referred to as the “most famous couple in France,” she created a signature perfume containing white musk and “molecule of attraction.” She is also said to have the smallest waist in Paris.