Tatjana Patitz

Magazine / women icons

The aristocracy of high fashion.

The most legendary decade in the modern fashion industry, which gave us - fans of minimalism, the cult style "Cesual" framed by the aesthetics of "Old money" - the end of the twentieth century.

Archives of magazines: VOGUE; ELLE; HARPER'S BAZAAR - photos created by the genius Patrick DeMarchelier, which have become the gold standard of fashion photography, and on the covers they are - supermodels of the 90s..

The "Big Six" - they were stars, along with musicians, actresses and politicians, and their names are forever inscribed in the history of world fashion: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Tarlington, Cindy Crawford - the names of the girls defiling on the catwalk were known to everyone: they were glad to see them at any show or party, each of them has become a legendary standard of beauty and elegance.

Today the magazine "WOSK1147" would like to tell you about one of these amazing girls who became an icon of style, remembered by the whole world for kindness, humanity and refinement inherent in aristocratic persons.

Tatjana Patitz and her path, as bright and mysterious as herself.

Tatjana was born in Hamburg, Germany, in the family of a journalist and a dancer. At an early age, she moved to Switzerland with her parents..

At the age of 17, her height, thin with blue eyes, long wheat-colored hair and clear cheekbones, was noticed by an agent of the Swedish branch of the modeling agency «Elite Model» - so Tatjana took part in the "Image of the Year" modeling contest and became a finalist, taking third place.

She won the contract and flew away to conquer the city of fashion and love - Paris.

Two years later, in 1985, the celebrity appeared on his first cover of British VOGUE.

At the same time, she began working with one of the main fashion photographers Peter Lindbergh, a collaboration with whom lasted for many years. Patitz was his muse: "- I admire Tatjana, because she always remains herself. She is very soft, but, at the same time, very strong and knows how to defend what is important to her. It is impossible not to admire her and for many years not to be in love with her."

Famous writers, critics and photographers could not pass by the beauty of the supermodel - she was so unusual, exotic and alluring.

Her natural talent and outstanding shooting brought Patitz to New York, where the celebrity met the most talented people in the fashion industry - with them she created the best pictures, which we, with a sinking heart, are reviewing now.

In the late eighties, Tatjana met another significant photographer with whom she was ready to transform into a mermaid, an elf, a surfer and a superstar - of course, we are talking about Patrick DeMarchelier.

Tatjana Patitz has inspired many women….

Her style, demeanor and gait were different from other supermodels - she often experimented with her appearance: curled long dark curls, which she then dyed blonde and cut off.

However, Tatjana lamented over one of her experiments for a very long time - but no matter how much she regretted the short haircut, it was the one that brought her the best work in her career: in 1989, French hairdresser Didier Malige changed the star once and for all, turning her curls into a daring square for the sake of shooting "Earthly Forces" for the British "VOGUE" - Tatiana mourned her hair for several months, but with this hairstyle they began to pay even more attention to her.

So Tatjana Patitz makes covers for the main fashion publication - American VOGUE, and Anna Wintour herself is present at the photo shoots - then it spoke of the highest level and worldwide recognition of the girl.

At the end of the eighties, she was named the first German supermodel, a new title brought with it continuous work. Tatjana made more than forty business flights a month, so she soon decided to "land": She moved to Los Angeles and devoted her free time to meditation, creativity and self-development.

The nineties, for Tatjana, became the peak of popularity: her name, along with the names of five other supermodels - Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Tarlington, Cindy Crawford - became part of the "Big Six".

The Big Six is a group of supermodels who collaborated with world fashion houses, opened and closed couture shows, shone on the covers of major fashion publications and, of course, were included in the list of the highest paid models.

Tatjana worked with Chanel, Calvin Klein, Chloé and others, was the face of the advertising campaign of the cosmetics brand Monteil.

Her fee, from all advertising companies, was two million dollars.

Patitz tried her hand at cinema and has several acting jobs, a small filmography consists of such films as: "The Rising Sun"; "The Larry Sanders Show"; "Lonely Guy"; "Religious".

In the two thousandth, after leaving the modeling business, Tatjana sometimes took part in advertising and shows, for example, in 2009 she participated in the show of the collection "Coco on the Lido" of the Chanel fashion house in Venice and became the face of the Italian brand Marina Rinaldi. In 2010, Tatjana Patitz presented the French brand of luxury underwear Chantelle, but even then it was known about a serious disease that she was struggling with and from which she died in 2023 - breast cancer.

Throughout all the years of dizzying popularity, Patitz carefully hid her personal life.

Tatjana has a son John, but she herself has never been married, although she conquered the hearts of many men: she once met the mannequin Gabriel, photographer Sante D'Orazio, actor Johnny Depp and singer Seal.

One day she said:

"- The main thing that I realized in life is that a person can be content with little." - these words fully corresponded to her.

Tatjana devoted herself to raising her son, they had many pets in the house: dogs, cats, canaries, parrots, pigeons and horses. Tatjana was a vegetarian, she opposed the cruel treatment of animals, including the wearing of natural leather and fur.

As noted in the magazine VOGUE, despite belonging to an elite cohort of models, Tatjana always kept somewhat apart: "- There was an element of mystery in her beauty ... Something in the soft oval of her face and in the cut of her eyes, in which dignity and passion were read!" – wrote VOGUE.

Tatjana Patitz was mourned not only by the fashion world, but also by almost everyone who had ever heard of her or seen her on the pages of magazines.

She maintained a warm friendship with her colleagues and on the day of her death, as well as in the first days of grief, each of them wrote heartfelt lines: someone recalled funny stories, someone wrote about her kind heart, someone admired her beauty - but no one kept silent.

Tatjana's photos, having become a tragic information guide, have again spread all over the world.

VOGUE ITALY dedicated its February issue to the memory of Tatjana Patitz, and the editorial board of the magazine left a touching comment: "-VOGUE has always supported top models: Tatjana Patitz was one of the "big six" of the 1990s/2000s and worked with photographers who wrote the history of this magazine - so dedicate this to her it seemed like the right thing to do. We hope that the words of those who met her and wanted to share their memories of Tatjana with us will become an opportunity for our readers to experience an unusual aspect of the fashion world.

An era is passing away, confirming that natural beauty, elegance and individuality are the timeless dominant code of the premium segment, which will always be relevant!

Bright memory to Tatjana Patitz…