German supermodel Tatjana Patiz — known as one of the “original supermodels” emanating from the 90s — passed away on January 11, while under hospice care in Santa Barbara, from metastatic breast cancer (per Women’s Wear Daily). She was only 56 years old.
After placing third in the 1983 Elite Model Contest held in Sweden, the then 17-year-old Patiz won a limited-time modeling contract, Vogue reports. However, she didn’t hit it big right off the bat. After struggling to find work for over a year, Patiz finally got her footing in the industry and went on to score six British Vogue covers and a U.S. Vogue cover before landing the gig that would launch her career into the stratosphere.
In 1990, Patiz was shot alongside fellow supermodels Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, and Cindy Crawford by prolific fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh. The image — which Vogue calls “era-defining” — graced the cover of British Vogue and inspired a nickname for the five women: the Big Five (per L’Officiel).
Patiz’s diagnosis
Metastatic breast cancer — otherwise known as stage 4 breast cancer — is an advanced form of cancer characterized by the spread of cancer from the breast to other parts of the body (per National Breast Cancer Foundation). It often affects the bones, liver, brain, or lungs. Because cancer becomes harder to treat once it has spread, the survival rate for women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is only 29% (per Cancer.net). In the U.S., only 6% of women with breast cancer receive the diagnosis after the cancer has already spread. Patiz, who was known for her air of elegant mystery, kept news of her diagnosis out of the public eye.
Patiz is survived by her beloved, 19-year-old son Jonah. Her colleagues, friends, and family remember her for her love of animals, advocacy, and her quiet enjoyment of simple things like nature (per CNN).
The Peter Lindbergh Foundation paid tribute to Patiz in a tweet in which they honored her “kindness, inner beauty, and outstanding intelligence.”
