Tatjana Patitz Remembered 

On a personal note, I mark the passing of former supermodel Tatjana Patitz, who moved to Carpinteria from Malibu in 2018, and died at her home aged 56 from breast cancer.

She starred in an historic video for the late George Michael’s hit “Freedom!” alongside fellow supermodels Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, and Naomi Campbell, as well as appearing in other rock videos for Duran Duran’s “Skin Trade” and Nick Kamen’s “Tell Me.”

During her successful career, which included seven covers of British Vogue and major campaigns for Chanel, Calvin Klein, and Gianni Versace, German-born Tatjana worked with a number of high-profile photographers, notably Peter Lindbergh, whose 1990 U.K. Vogue cover featuring her and a host of other supermodels of the time is considered iconic.

She moved to California from Europe to be closer to nature and her beloved dogs, Matilda and Gatsby.

Tatjana, who dated Heidi Klum’s singer ex, Seal, former 007 Pierce Brosnan, and Nick Kamen, was also a major supporter of Return to Freedom, a charity advocating for wild horses.

“She was always the European symbol of chic like Romy Schneider meets Monica Vitti,” says Vogue editor Anna Wintour, with whom I used to work at New York Magazine in the ‘80s.