Carla Bruni-Sarkozy sues over nude bags

Carla Bruni takes legal action against clothing company

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is suing a clothing company for selling bags featuring her nude image.

The French first-lady is taking legal action against the retailer, Pardon, which created ten thousand of the canvas shoppers, each illustrated with a nude image of the former supermodel, and the caption "My guy should have bought Pardon!"

The image was taken from a photograph of Bruni, shot during her modelling days for a campaign against Aids in 1993.

The bags are on sale for three euros each.

Her lawyer released a statement, which read, 'Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has exclusive and absolute rights over her image. We are going to ask for 125,000 euros in damages for the sale of this article which constitutes a moral and matrimonial attack.'

Pardon are not backing down though. Its founder Peter Mertes disputed, '(Carla is) a public woman - you find photos of her everywhere.'

The company has, however, already withdrawn all the bags from its stores, and plans to destroy them.

If she should win the settlement, then Bruni-Sarkozy has vowed to donate the sum to charity.