On September 21, 2026, the auction «Brigitte Bardot: La Vente» is being held at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, featuring 285 personal objects that were kept for years in the actress's homes in Saint-Tropez — La Madrague and La Garrigue — as well as in her Paris apartment. The auction is organized by the Millon auction house, which conceived the event not as a collection of celebrity souvenirs, but as "the story of Bardot's life, told through her things." The auction takes place in two sessions — at 11:00 and 13:30 local time — and before it begins, part of the interiors, including the Parisian living room, has been almost perfectly recreated in the Drouot exhibition space, as noted by the actress's personal secretary, Franck Guyot, who worked with her for 37 years.
What is being sold: from a ballet tutu to a typewriter
Among the most notable lots are Bardot's black ballet tutu, her Repetto shoes, guitars, jewelry, portraits, and an Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter on which the actress worked on part of her autobiography. Alongside these, the auction features far more everyday items: straw hats, eyeglasses, nightgowns, lighters, tableware, woven baskets, and a Peugeot bicycle. The organizers emphasize that it is precisely this ordinariness that is the collection's main feature: the auction shows not only the familiar image of "BB" — one of the leading film stars of the 20th century — but also the private side of a woman's life who, at the age of 39, effectively left the film industry and devoted herself to animal protection.
The financial side and the fate of the proceeds
The preliminary estimates for the lots vary widely — roughly from 10 to 20 thousand euros — while most items start from a sum of less than 100 euros. At the same time, the organizers acknowledge that the final price of certain items may rise significantly precisely because of their connection to Bardot's name. The proceeds from the sale are planned to be donated to the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which works on animal protection, as well as to the actress's only son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier.
Contradictory information
A public controversy has arisen around the auction, in which the parties' positions diverge. Bardot's widower, Bernard d'Ormal, sharply criticized the decision to put such personal items up for sale: in a statement to AFP, he said that the actress herself would not have agreed to such an auction, that some of the items should have been preserved for the future opening of her home La Madrague to visitors, and that the argument about the charitable purpose of the sale was unsound, considering the whole situation a disrespect to his wife's memory. The organizers, by contrast, insist that the sale is conceived as a careful, "historical" presentation of Bardot's life through her things, and that the proceeds will go to purposes connected with her legacy — the animal protection foundation and her son. Thus, the fact that the auction is taking place is confirmed, however, the legitimacy and appropriateness of the sale itself remain a matter of dispute between the widower and the organizers.
Context: the final chapter of Bardot's life
Brigitte Bardot died in December 2025 at the age of 91. The auction of her personal items, taking place on September 21, 2026, becomes one of the last public testimonies to her legacy — not cinematic, but domestic and human. Through furniture, clothing, small details, music, and objects from the actress's own rooms, the collection conveys to viewers and buyers not only the iconic image, but also the everyday life of a woman who, after leaving the film industry, found herself in the fight for animal rights.
