Iconic '90s supermodel dies at age 56
German supermodel Tatjana Patitz, who appeared in George Michael’s Freedom 90 video, has died at 56 years of age.
A family representative confirmed that her cause of death was breast cancer.
Patitz started her career in 1983, after becoming a finalist in the Elite Model Look contest and is considered one of the "original supermodels".
She has been featured on the cover of Vogue six times.
Vogue shared a tribute to the supermodel, stating that she was "the quietest and perhaps the most intense of the original supermodels".
In the tribute, Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue said that “Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti".
"She was far less visible than her peers—more mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainable—and that had its own appeal," she added, describing Patitz's unique qualities.
At the height of her career Patitz, alongside other models like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington, starred in the Freedom 90 video.
They were recruited after George Michael saw the British Vogue’s January 1990 supermodels cover.
Peter Lindbergh, labelled as "the fairy godfather of Patitz’s career," was the photographer who captured Patitz's natural beauty in the 1988 photograph White Shirts: Six Supermodels, Malibu.
The Peter Lindbergh Foundation posted a tribute to the supermodel in a Tweet.
The tribute read: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tatjana Patitz, a long-time friend of Peter’s. We would like to salute Tatjana’s kindness, inner beauty and outstanding intelligence.
Our thoughts go to her loved ones and particularly Jonah. She will be immensely missed."
Tatjana Patitz is survived by her son, Jonah, who has followed in his mother’s footsteps and is now a model.
Image: Instagram