From Cindy Crawford to Eva Herzigova: Stars who paid tribute to Tatjana Patitz after model dies at 56

Cindy Crawford wrote, 'We were babies together in the fashion industry and I feel like we grew up together'

UPDATED JAN 12, 2023

Tatjana Patitz had metastatic breast cancer and died at the age of 56 (Dimitrios Kambouris/Alexander Koerner/Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA: Tatjana Patitz, a German-born supermodel who was well-known for her catwalk performances from the '80s and '90s, died on Wednesday, January 11 at the age of 56 after a battle with metastatic breast cancer.

Vogue was the first to report Patitz's death. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the fashion bible, stated in a Vogue obituary that Tatjana "was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti." One of the original supermodels, Patitz, was regarded by Wintour as the supermodel who was "far less visible than her peers — more mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainable — and that had its own appeal." The DailyMail reported that Patitz died in the morning hours of January 11 in Santa Barbara, California. Patitz has walked the runway for a number of high-end fashion houses over her career, including Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Alaa, and Helmut Lang. Her most recent runway performance was in 2019 when she modeled for Etro.

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Legends in the industry adored Patitz, including the late photographer Peter Lindbergh, whose cover of the January 1990 issue of British Vogue displaying the German model with Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, and Naomi Campbell helped usher in the supermodel era.

In a tweet posted on Wednesday, the Peter Lindbergh Foundation expressed its sympathies, stating, "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tatjana Patitz, a long-time friend of Peter's. We would like to salute Tatjana's kindness, inner beauty, and outstanding intelligence. Our thoughts go to her loved ones and particularly [her son] Jonah. She will be immensely missed."

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tatjana Patitz, a long-time friend of Peter’s.
We would like to salute Tatjana’s kindness, inner beauty and outstanding intelligence.
Our thoughts go to her loved ones and particularly Jonah. She will be immensely missed. https://t.co/VGjAhLyC2C
— Peter Lindbergh Foundation (@peterlindbergh) January 11, 2023

Crawford, a mother of two, shared an Instagram post with a vintage image of the two of them at a beach on her profile. She wrote in the caption, "So sad to hear of the passing of the beautiful @tatjanapatitz. We were babies together in the fashion industry and I feel like we grew up together. We were in so many shoots together and backstage at shows."

Crawford added, "I found her soft-spoken, sensitive, kind, inquisitive and, who could ever forget those piercing eyes. Her love of animals and nature was infectious. Sending my condolences to her family — especially the son she adored. RIP."

Eva Herzigova, who was known as the '90s Marilyn Monroe, wrote in her Instagram post's caption, "An angel has left us, Tatjana Patitz 💔 …hearing about your passing is the saddest news I could have imagined…I miss your dearly RIP 🕊️"

Helena Christensen wrote, "Beautiful Tatjana, you were such a divine spirit inside out ♥️ Always graceful and calm with that those wonderful smiling eyes. We went on so many trips together from such a young age and shared incredible memories. I loved being around you, it felt so peaceful and we always laughed a lot."

"I am grateful we kept in touch till the end, it made me smile just now reading through our texts realizing they’re mostly about our love for nature. I hope you’re riding on a horse in endless meadows with that smile on your face and the wind blowing in your hair ♥️♥️♥️ RIP beautiful angel 🕊️," Christensen concluded.

Yasmeen Ghauri shared a throwback image with the caption, "Rest in peace dear Tatjana. We didn’t know each other well but your presence always struck me. Your authenticity, grace, kindness and inner strength shone through. You will be missed. 🤍🕊️🤍."

Makeup artist Pati Dubroff wrote, "Gutted to hear of the passing of this beauty. @tatjanapatitz was one of the first models I met and connected with when we were both in our early 20s. She was already a 'supermodel' and i was 'just' an assistant. She was kind, cool and so down to earth."

"As I write this I realize that not only have we lost this light, also the photographer @therealpeterlindbergh and hairdresser #davidbabaii from this shoot are no longer with us on this earthly existence. 💔," Dubroff concluded her message.