Christy Turlington says she worshipped late model Tatjana Patitz for taking her “under her wing”.
Christy Turlington says she worshipped late model Tatjana Patitz for taking her ‘under her wing’
The supermodel, 54, paid tribute to Tatjana after she died from breast cancer on Wednesday (11.01.23) aged 56.
Christy, who was one of five supermodels who featured in George Michael’s ‘Freedom’ music video along with Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana, said on her Instagram on Wednesday: “I learned about the sudden passing of Tatjana Patitz when I landed at an airport on the same coast earlier today.
“Ever since, all I can see is her face, hear her voice, and of course am flooded with memories.
“Tatjana embodied, to me, European sophistication and style when I met her. Of the many shoots and memories we shared since we first met in 1985, the first one was most present today. It was on my second shoot for American Vogue that we were first paired, along with @estellelefebure_orahe and #LetitiaFerminDidot, in Cannes with photographer #dennispeel and editor #pollymellen to shoot that season’s collections.”
Christy, who has daughter Grace, 19, and son Finn, 16, with her actor husband Ed Burns, 54, went on: “I was a 16-year-old high school student from Northern California who was permitted to leave school to travel alone to Paris for the first time for this special opportunity.
“I would stay at the Hotel Crillon for a night before meeting up with the rest of the team on location the following day.
“Tatjana was already living in Paris at the time and had been given the assignment, or chore, of collecting me on the way to the airport. My first introduction to Tatjana was over the hotel lobby phone. ‘Where are you? We are going to be late!’ She said.
“I was sad to leave my beautiful room after such a short stay but definitely did not want to get on the bad side of anyone.
“Not on this trip, and especially not Tatjana Patitz. It wasn’t until we got to Charles de Gaulle that she started to relax and speak to me.
“By the time we got to our hotel in Cannes, she invited me to her hotel room, where we drank mini bar champagne, ate Toblerone chocolates and smoked cigarettes while she talked to her French boyfriend over the phone.
“Tatjana was always a vision. Glamorous, sophisticated, and warm, once she let you in. I could have watched her smoke cigarettes and speak in any of the many languages she was fluent in all day. Who needed to work?
“I was learning how an international woman behaved and moved in the world in real time.
“Tatjana took me in, under her wing. I stayed in her apartment for a night in Paris on my way home on the floor of her cool pied de terre on the left bank. You are unforgettable and are forever in my heart.”
Among the other famous faces who have paid tribute to Tatjana are Milla Jovovich, 47, who said the late model was “one of the most stunning humans” she had met.
Tatjana found global fame when she was shot by photographer Peter Lindberg, and had son Jonah in 2004 with her businessman husband Jason Johnson.