Tatyana Patits – one of the legendary supermodels of the 80s and 90s, died at the age of only 56, according to world media reports.
Her agent commented that she died of the disease without providing further details.
Born in Hamburg to an Estonian mother and a German father, Tatiana moved with her family to Scania, an idyllic seaside town in southern Sweden, when she was very young.
In 1983, when she was 17, she entered a modeling contest and finished third in Sweden. The prize is a trip to Paris and a fixed-term contract. But, as Vogue wrote in 1988, “a star is not born quickly” – Tatyana did not find work for a year.
And then Peter Lindbergh appears, the fairy godfather of Patitz’s career. The German photographer, known for his unretouched images and preference for “natural” good looks, reportedly photographed Tatiana for the famous “White Shirts: Six Supermodels, Malibu” filmed in 1988.
and then again for the January 1990 British Vogue supermodel cover.
When George Michael saw this release, he invited the same line-up of girls to appear in his “Freedom ’90” music video, which turned them into absolute icons.
One of the more original supermodels, Patitz never seemed like she was part of the “pack”. This partly explains her choice to settle not in New York or Paris, but in California, where she can be closer to nature and her animals than she is: the beauty has been an avid horse rider since she was child.
“Tatiana has always been the European symbol of chic,” recalls Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue. “She was far less visible than her colleagues—more mysterious, older, more elusive—and that had her charm about her.”
“I have never sold my soul,” Tatiana said in a 2020 interview.
Peter Lindbergh
Patitz’s son Jonah Johnson followed in his footsteps and became a model, even posing with his mother for Vogue. He told the publication in 2022, “Jonah is my source of happiness.”
Patitz’s last red carpet appearance was with him at the Tribute to Bambi in Berlin, Germany this past October.
Photo: iStock by Getty Images
