Tatjana Patitz

Tatjana Patitz
Patitz in 2005
Born(1966-05-25)May 25, 1966
Hamburg, West Germany
DiedJanuary 11, 2023(2023-01-11) (aged 56)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
OccupationModel
SpouseJason Randall Johnson
Children1
Modeling information
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Hair colorDark blonde
Eye colorBlue
Agency

Tatjana Patitz (25 May 1966 – 11 January 2023) was a German fashion model. She achieved international prominence in the 1980s and 1990s representing fashion designers on runways and in magazines such as Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue.[2][3] She was one of the big[4] five[5][6][7] supermodels who appeared in the 1990 music video "Freedom! '90" by George Michael,[8] and she was associated with the editorial, advertising, and fine-art works of photographers Herb Ritts and Peter Lindbergh.[9][10][11]

In the book Models of Influence: 50 Women Who Reset The Course of Fashion, author Nigel Barker reviewed Patitz's career during the height of the supermodel era in the 1980s and 1990s, writing that she possessed an exoticism and broad emotional range that set her apart from her peers.[12] In her 2012 memoir, creative director of Vogue Grace Coddington regarded Patitz as one of the original supermodels and a must in photographs and on the catwalk.[13] Harper's Bazaar wrote, "Indeed, Patitz's features almost confuse. Like Garbo or the Mona Lisa, the inexplicable gifts of line and luminescence defy definition."[14] Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour[15] stated that Patitz had always been one of her favourite models.[16] Patitz's work bridged the eras of the exhibitionist 1980s and the minimalist 1990s in an enduring way, as Barker concluded, "The most lasting images of her are when she was really looking like herself."[17] Author Linda Sivertsen noted that Patitz is greatly responsible for establishing the acceptance of statuesque and curvaceous beauty in an industry of extreme thinness.[18]

Patitz was an avid horsewoman who continued her lifelong passion for animals and the environment by campaigning for ecological causes and animal rights.[19] Her self-described eclectic and bohemian design aesthetic for residential architecture and home design in her adoptive home state of California was recognised internationally.[20][21][22]

  1. ^ "Tatjana Patitz – Model".
  2. ^ Barker, p. 151
  3. ^ Saner, Ermine (15 January 2009). "The Forgotten Supermodel". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Ratzinger, Maria (12 January 2023). "Supermodel Tatjana Patitz Dies at 56". L'Officiel. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  5. ^ Hoskyns, Barney (September 1992). "Out of Bed with Naomi: The Making of a Superstar". British Vogue. Vol. 76, no. 9. p. 229. The caption 'The big five: Naomi, Linda, Tatjana, Christy and Cindy, January 1990' accompanies a photo of all five women.
  6. ^ Morris, Sandra (1996). CATWALK: Inside the World of the Supermodels (First ed.). New York: Universe Publishing – A Division of Rizzoli International Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 0789300567.
  7. ^ "Happy Birthday, Linda Evangelista! The Original Supermodel Turns 50 And Is Happy About Aging". The Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com). The Huffington Post Media Group. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ^ Sophia Panych, Patrick Rogers. "16 Things You Didn't Know About George Michael's "Freedom! '90" Video". Allure. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  9. ^ Brown, Laura (23 March 2009). "CLASSIC LINDBERGH: The Photographer and his Supermodel Subjects Recall some of the Greatest Shoots in History". Harpers Bazaar (harpersbazaar.com). A PART OF HEARST DIGITAL MEDIA "Most famously, his [Lindbergh] eye is responsible for defining the era of the supermodel. The inception: the January 1990 cover of British Vogue...where he assembled Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Tatjana Patitz in downtown New York. It was a new generation, and that new generation came with a new interpretation of women, he explains. 'It was the first picture of them together as a group.' That cover, of course, also inspired George Michael's Freedom 90 video, directed by David Fincher. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Supermodel moments: the names and faces that defined an era". MSN. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  11. ^ Okwodu, Janelle (10 December 2015). "Now This Is a Supermodel". Vogue. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  12. ^ Barker, pp. 148–151
  13. ^ Coddington, Grace (2012). Grace – A Memoir (First ed.). New York: Random House. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-8129-93356. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  14. ^ "Singular Sensations: Three of the most in-demand, highly paid models in the world – each has a magnetic appeal and personal professionalism that makes her beautifully unique". Harper's Bazaar. March 1990. p. 221. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  15. ^ Alix McNamara, Caroline Howard. "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  16. ^ Wintour, Anna (August 2012). "Letter from the Editor – Years Without Fear". Vogue. Vol. 120, no. 8. pp. 64, 68 "She [Patitz] was always one of my favorites, possessed of a beauty and a body like no other".
  17. ^ Barker, p. 148: "...but the most lasting images of her are when she was really looking like herself, with a minimum of theme or concept, almost like a palate cleanser from the high camp and artifice of the late 1980s"
  18. ^ Sivertsen, Linda (1998). Lives Charmed. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc. p. 278. ISBN 1-55874-593-9.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference b151 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Hayman, Sheila (January 1996). "Animal House: Sheila Hayman visits the dogs, cats and cockatoos at Tatjana Patitz's Malibu Ranch House" (PDF). British Vogue. Vol. 80, no. 1. pp. 108–113.
  21. ^ Malle, Chloe (August 2012). "The Great Escape". Vogue. Vol. 120, no. 8. p. 149. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  22. ^ Kramer, Jennifer Blaise (Fall 2015). "Natural Beauty". C Magazine. p. 40.