Biografie

She lived in a houseboat on the Seine, near the Alexander III bridge in Paris.

Daughter of Djibril Tamsir Niane, an archaeologist and writer.

After quitting the runway, she set up her own label in 1994, and spoke out actively against female circumcision, describing her own experience at age 9 in a book, "Katoucha, In My Flesh," published in 2007.

Ran away to Europe at 17 aiming to be a model. Her big break came when a designer at Lanvin spotted her in a line-up and hired her as a fitting model. Her first catwalk modeling was for Thierry Mugler at the start of the 1980s.

Disapeared after returning from a party on February 1, 2008. Her body was found floating in the Seine River in Paris on February 28, 2008.