German model Tatjana Patitz, one of the most famous supermodels of the 1990s, died on January 11 at the age of 56, in Santa Barbara, California, United States.
According to the American magazine Vogue, the news was broken by her agent, Corinne Nicolas, who revealed that Patitz died of complications from breast cancer.
She is survived by her son, her sister and her parents. We are devastated by his passing. She was a compassionate, kind and generous-hearted soul and an avid advocate for animal rights. One of the main causes that she supported was the conservation of wild horses.
–Corinne Nicolas
Born in Germany, raised in Sweden and settled in California, Tatjana Patitz first came to prominence after appearing on a famous cover of the British version of the magazine Vogue in 1990, along with other famous supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, as well as his long collaboration with Peter Lindbergh, one of the most popular fashion photographers, known for his unretouched and candid photos, who died in 2019.
In addition, she was recognized for her leading role in the music video Freedom (1990) by George Michael, opposite Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington.
Patitz was part of the elite group of “original supermodels” of the 1980s and 1990s, along with models Estelle Lefébure, Karen Alexander, Rachel Williams, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington. The six women appear in the iconic photo taken on a beach in 1988 by Lindbergh for Voguetitled White Shirts: Six Supermodels, Malibu.
Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the US edition of the magazine Vogue, described Tatjana Patitz with great appreciation in a text paying tribute to the supermodel, perhaps echoing a statement Patitz made during a 2020 interview: “I never sold my soul.”
The quietest and perhaps the most intense of the original supermodels.
Tatjana was always the European symbol of elegance, as [las actrices] Romy Schneider and Monica Vitti. She was much less conspicuous than her peers, more mysterious, more mature, more unattainable and that had her appeal.