Supermodel Tatjana Patitz dead at 56

Tatjana Patitz, a Vogue model who appeared on dozens of fashion magazine covers in her 40-year career after skyrocketing to fame in the 80s and 90s, has died. She was 56.

While the cause of death has not been revealed, Vogue confirmed that the model died recently.

The iconic supermodel was best known for her work at Vogue and also starred in George Michael’s ’90s music video Freedom! alongside fellow models Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista.

Patitz, who was raised in Sweden by her Estonian mother and German father, began her modeling career at the age of 17 when she came third in a competition in Stockholm in 1983. The prize was a trip to Paris with a limited-time modeling contract — and the rest is history.

“Tatjana was always the symbol of European elegance, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti,” Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, wrote in memory of the cover star.

Patitz first began an interest in modeling when she was just 17 years old, placing third in a Swedish competition. .Penske Media via Getty Images Originally raised in Sweden, Patitz found solace in the natural beauty of California, she told the Guardian in 2009. WireImage

“She was much less visible than her peers — more mysterious, more grown-up, more inaccessible — and that had its own appeal,” Wintour continued.

The Post has reached out to Patitz’s agency for comment.

Although Tatjana was out of work for a year after her stay in Paris, she quickly became a force in the modeling world, according to Vogue. Along with her background in acting, her “distinctive” looks took her far.

“People always said I looked special; that I don’t look like anyone else,” she told Vogue in a 1988 profile titled “Tatjana: Million Dollar Beauty.” “And I would succeed because of it.”

She made a number of screen appearances, including music videos for Duran Duran and Korn, as well as films and short television guest spots.

As a Vogue cover star, her “distinctive” looks and background in acting took her far. Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

She worked with some of the most prolific photographers in the industry, including Peter Lindbergh, the January 1990 British Vogue cover shoot of Patitz, Evangelista, Turlington, Crawford and Naomi Campbell served as the “birth certificate” of the supermodel era.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tatjana Patitz, a longtime friend of Peter’s,” the Peter Lindbergh Foundation tweeted Wednesday. “We would like to salute Tatiana’s kindness, inner beauty and extraordinary intelligence. Our thoughts go out to her loved ones and especially [her son] Jonah. She will be sorely missed.”

Patitz moved to California, choosing nature instead of the bustling city life of modeling centers like New York or Paris. Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images “People always said I looked special; that I don’t look like anyone else,” she said in a previous interview. Gisela Schober

Described by the fashion magazine as “the quietest and perhaps the most intense of the original supermodels,” Patitz didn’t flock to Paris or New York like other aspiring models. Instead, she found solace in California’s outdoors and vowed never to sell her soul to the business.

“There were fascinating moments, but it was exhausting,” she told the Guardian in a 2009 interview. “The low points were traveling so much and being exhausted. I always thought that [fashion and modeling] I was not who I was; that’s what i did. It didn’t define me. Living here and coming back to this country was like a sigh of relief in a way.”

She appeared alongside Crawford and Evangelista in the film Freedom! Michael’s! 90’s music video. Ron Galella Collection via Getty “There were glamorous moments, but it was exhausting,” the model previously said of her career in the industry. Clemens Bilan

She is survived by her 19-year-old son Jonah, whom she described as her “source of happiness,” according to Vogue.