Often referred to as one of the "original supermodels" Tatjana Patitz, known for her runway and editorial work throughout the 1980s and '90s, has passed away at the age of 56, according to Vogue
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and raised in Switzerland by her father, a travel journalist, and her mother, a dancer. At the age of 17, she won third place in a contest held by Elite Model Management, and as a result, won a contract with the agency and moved to Paris to begin modeling. By 1985, she was a regular in the industry with a British Vogue cover to her name. That was also the year she began working with photographer Peter Lindbergh, with whom she would go on to collaborate with repeatedly over the next few decades. "I admire Tatjana because she always stays herself," Lindbergh wrote about the model in his book, 10 Women."She's very soft, but at the same time she's very strong and kows how to stand up for what she thinks, and it's always very enriching to be with her. It's impossible not to admire her and over the vears not to be iust a little bit in love with her."Throughout the '80s, Patitz appeared in editorials in French Vogue, Italian Vogue, Elle, and many more publications as she worked with photographers like Irving Penn, Helmut Newton,
and Steven Meisel. In 1987, she was shot by Richard Avedon her first cover for American Vogue. It was around this time that the idea of supermodels began to form, with Patitz as one of the original names in the group. Her success continued, but in 1989, she decided to relocate to Los Angeles in an attempt to slow down a little and be closer to nature. She continued to book editorials throughout the '90s, shooting images like Lindbergh's January 1990 cover for British Vogue alongside Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington, which helped truly usher in the era of the supermodel, and led to the group's name, "The Big Five." It was that cover, which caught the attention of singer George Michael, who then cast Patitz, along with the rest of the group, in the David Fincher-directed music video for his song, "Freedom! 90." On her own, Patitz continued