Future first lady of France, Carla Bruni, first reached fame as a model posing for high-fashion photographs like this one from 1995.
But not everyone is taking kindly to the re-making of France’s first lady. Hannah Betts, a reporter at the U.K.’s Telegraph, calls the make-under “an insult to the intelligence of the electorate.” She suggests that a change of clothes doesn’t get rid of Bruni’s glam roots as a model and singer. In the ’90s she took the fashion world by storm, gracing the cover of more than 250 fashion magazines including British and French Vogue. It was rumored Bruni brought home $7.5 million in her last year as a full-time model.
In her first years at the Elysee Palace, Bruni continued to wear the designers she once represented, making state appearances her new catwalk. Swapping designer for down-home is a significant change. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s high-end style and eccentricity won the hearts of the French once. On April 22 voters will decide if the couple’s common new image is believable.
(PHOTOS: Sarkozy’s London Calling)