Although she was just seventeen years old at the time, German-born model Tatjana Patitz launched her fashion career with a modeling job that would make her famous. She competed in a modeling competition called Elite Model Contest among other wannabe models in Stockholm, Sweden, the country she and her family moved to when she was a young girl. During the competition, Patitz placed third and was given a limited modeling contract and a ticket to Paris, France, where she was able to successfully launch the career she had dreamed of since she was a child.
Patitz led a very successful modeling career beginning with her taste of fame in 1983. However, success did not come overnight. According to a Vogue story about the supermodel, “a star was not quickly born. Tatjana found no work for a year.” Over the years and lots of contracts later, she became one of the most popular models of the age and was featured in dozens of different photoshoots for different brands and companies around the world.
Tragically, Tatjana Patitz has passed away. According to her agent, Corrine Nichols, Patitz lost her long battle against breast cancer on Wednesday, January 11, 2023. She passed away in her home at the age of fifty-six. The Swedish-born model was living in Santa Barbara, California, at the time of her early death.
According to Vogue, Tatjana Patitz was one of the original supermodels. They called her the quest and most intense of the group.
Anna Wintour fondly recalled Patitz as a person with great self-possession and passion for the fashion industry. Wintour is the chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue.
Wintour said, “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.”
In 1988, Tatijana told Vogue in a profile entitled “Tatjana: Million Dollar Beauty” that “people always said that I looked special; that I didn’t look like anyone else. And I was going to make it because of that.”
When news of Patitz’s death began to sweep across social media, fellow supermodels like Cindy Crawford expressed their deep sadness at the great loss of this iconic model.
She wrote, “So sad to hear of the passing of the beautiful Tatjana Patitz. We were babies together in the fashion industry, and I feel like we grew up together.”
In addition to Cindy Crawford, Patitz also modeled on the cover of British Vogue alongside supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington.
Patitz is survived by her nineteen-year-old son named, Jonah Johnson. Last year, Patitz told Vogue, “Jonah is my source of happiness.”
The supermodel’s final red carpet appearance was back in October 2022 alongside her son Jonah. The red carpet occurred in Germany at the Tribute to Bambi in Berlin.