Tatjana Patitz, a German-born supermodel and one of the foremost catwalkers of the ’90s, has died at the age of 56 following a battle with metastatic breast cancer.
A representative for Patitz confirmed the sad news and cause of death to several outlets including Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue.
“Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti,” the fashion bible’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, wrote in a Vogue-published obituary.
“She was far less visible than her peers — more mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainable — and that had its own appeal.”
During her career, Patitz hit the runway for many top fashion brands, including Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Alaïa and Helmut Lang. Her last catwalk appearance was in 2019, modeling for Etro. Considered one of the original supermodels, Patitz rose to fame in the ’80s and ’90s.
Patitz appeared on more than 130 magazine covers in her life, according to Elite. She was just one face among a sea of supermodels for Vogue’s 100th-anniversary cover in 1992, all of them dressed identically in white jeans and white button-down shirts tied at the midriff.
She also made her mark as a star of many music videos, and famously appeared alongside Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington in George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” music video in 1990.
She also starred in the Duran Duran video for “Skin Trade,” as well as Nick Kamen’s music video for “Tell Me.” In 2000, Patitz appeared in the Korn music video for the song “Make Me Bad.”
She is survived by her 19-year-old son, Jonah.
