French collector of Brigitte Bardot items remembers late icon

From dresses and sunglasses to dolls, magazines, film reels and a cast of Brigitte Bardot’s breasts, French collector Bruno Ricard has amassed hundreds of thousands of objects relating to the late legendary film star.

Ricard started his collection with a Bardot disk bought for 150 francs at a yard sale 40 years ago. Now, he stores his collection of more than 200,000 items in his one-bedroom home near Paris.

“It’s more than a passion. I mean it’s a passion, but it’s my life, it’s 40 years of my life", Ricard told Reuters on Monday (January 5) two days before Bardot’s funeral in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera.

Bardot, often referred to in France simply as "B.B." and whose later years were marked by animal rights campaigns and far-right political sympathies, died at the age of 91, her foundation said on Dec. 28, 2025. The cause was not immediately known.

Ricard, who knew Bardot personally and who said he has always admired her commitment to the fight for animal rights, said Bardot was “the only woman I know who has balls".

“She represented women with a capital W", he said. “One could say she has a big mouth, but do you realise that if she doesn’t start shouting, who will listen?”

He remembered the film icon’s simplicity during one of the times when she welcomed him at her home, barefoot, in the villa of La Madrague, in Saint-Tropez.

Ricard will be present on Wednesday (January 6) for Bardot’s funeral. A procession through the city is planned and a religious ceremony to pay tribute to Bardot will take place Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church.

She will be buried at Saint-Tropez’s ceremony by the sea, alongside her parents.

Ardee Napolitano, Marco Trujillo/Reuters