Supermodel Tatjana Patitz has died of breast cancer.
Vogue announced news of her death. Considered one of the original supermodels, the Germany-born, Sweden-raised Patitz entered her first modeling contest at age 17 in Stockholm. Though she took home third place, it wasn’t until famed photographer Peter Lindbergh photographed her a few years later in 1988 that her career started to take off.
One of Patitz’s most memorable appearances came after she modeled for British Vogue in 1990 — George Michael cast her for his Freedom ’90 music video alongside Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista.
During her career, Patitz modeled for the likes of Chanel, Donna Karan, Vivienne Westwood and many more. Her final runway show was at Milan Fashion Week in 2019 with Etro for the fashion house’s Autumn/Winter 2019/20 presentation.
Patitz’s son Jonah Johnson followed in his mother’s becoming a model in his own right and posing with his mother for Vogue. The two appeared the in the fashion magazine more than once, most recently in 2019.
She told Vogue in 2022,
Jonah is my source of happiness.”
Patitz’s last red carpet appearance was with Jonah at the Tribute to Bambi in Berlin, Germany, last October. For the event, the two coordinated in all-black suits to walk the carpet together.
