Tatjana Patitz, one of the original supermodels, has died at 56

German supermodel Tatjana Patitz, one of the best-known runway and editorial stars of the 1980s, has died.

Supermodel Tatjana Patitz has died at 56. Picture: Getty Images

German supermodel Tatjana Patitz, one of the best-known runway and editorial stars of the 1980s and 1990s who also starred in George Michael’s ‘Freedom 90’ music video, has died at 56. Born in Hamburg in 1966, Patitz was among the first guard of ‘supermodels’ that came to define fashion in the lead-up to the millennium, with fame and influence that transcended further than just the fashion industry. A muse for the late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, Patitz walked in several runway collections designed by the fellow German (pictured in Chanel’s ready to wear spring/summer 92 show).

Tatjana Patitz for Chanel Ready to Wear spring/summer 1991-1992 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Picture: Getty Images

Patitz during the Chanel Haute Couture for Paris Fashion Week in 1991. Picture: Getty Images

Patitz’s ‘supermodel’ status was all but confirmed when she appeared on the cover of British Vogue’s game-changing January 1990 cover, which featured Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford shot in black-and-white by Peter Lindbergh. She would go on to star alongside the same women in Michael’s iconic lip-synched music clip, directed by David Fincher and considered groundbreaking for its time.

Patitz during the Chanel Haute Couture show at Paris Fashion Week spring/summer in 1992. Picture: Getty Images

“Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider meets Monica Vitti,” Vogue global editorial director Anna Wintour said in a statement shared after Patitz’s death. “She was far less visible than her peers – more mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainable – and that had its own appeal.”

Patitz mused for photographers Lindbergh, Arthur Elgort and the late Herb Ritts, whose striking work defined fashion photography in the ’80s and ’90s. Photos of Patitz taken in California’s Mojave Desert in 1988 are considered some of the most memorable fashion images of their time, and ran on the cover of British Vogue.

“My favourite face is probably Tatjana Patitz,” Ritts said in a 1999 interview, reshared by The Herb Ritts Foundation following her passing. “I think I’ve photographed her more than anybody, and to me more than any of the women she has the most unusual face: strong, oval, the almond eyes and those strong lips – and it’s her gaze, her inner self that always comes through so strongly.”

From left: Emma Sjoberg with Tatjana Patitz, Heather Stewart-Whyte, Fabienne Terwinghe and Naomi Campbell for PETA.

Despite walking for Italian brand Etro in 2019, Patitz kept a low profile until her passing from breast cancer on January 11. Survived by her son Jonah, Patitz will leave an inimitable mark on the fashion industry and modelling as an art form.