Where are they now? The famous faces from the Vogue supermodel cover.

Think of the term 'supermodel' and who comes to mind? 

Cindy Crawford? Linda Evangelista? Naomi Campbell? This trio with a handful of other equally long-limbed, big-haired beauties dominated the catwalks and magazines of the 1990s.

But before the glamourous 'supers' became globally recognised household names, five of them featured together on a British Vogue magazine cover, shot by legendary fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh in January 1990.

Watch: Supermodel Paulina Porizkova on ageism in the fashion industry. Post continues below. 

As news broke yesterday of the death of Tatjana Patitz, the lesser known face in that iconic Vogue ensemble, we look back at her life and the lives of her fellow cover stars, exactly 33 years after the photo's publication.

Tatjana Patitz

In an obituary on British Vogue, Tatjana Patitz, who reportedly died from metastatic breast cancer aged 56, is described by author Laird Borrelli-Persson as the 'quietest and most intense' of the original supermodels.

She loved riding horses and the outdoors and spent most of her adult life in California to be close to her family, animals, and nature. 

Patitz was born in Germany but moved with her family to Sweden as a child. In 1983, she entered an Elite Model Contest in Stockholm and placed third. The prize was a trip to Paris, however she didn't find consistent work for over a year. 

After she met German photographer Peter Lindbergh, who shot her for the famous Vogue cover, her career trajectory changed forever. She featured in campaigns and walked for all the major fashion houses and appeared in George Michael's 'Freedom! '90' music video with her fellow Vogue supers.

Speaking of Patitz, chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue Anna Wintour described her as "the European symbol of chic".

"She was far less visible than her peers – more mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainable – and that had its own appeal," Wintour said.

Patitz leaves behind her 19-year-old son Jonah who she described last year as "my source of happiness." 

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Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford was one of the biggest names and faces in fashion and entertainment in the 1990s. In 1984 she took part in an Elite Models competition and later dropped out of a chemical engineering scholarship at Northwestern University to pursue modelling full time. 

She attributes the pared-back British Vogue cover from January 1990 as heralding the start of her global fame. 

In a 2016 interview with Vogue, Crawford refers to a combination of the George Michael 'Freedom! '90' music video, a 1991 Versace show, and the iconic Vogue cover as her 'big supermodel moments'. 

"At the time, I had no idea [the cover] was going to be so legendary," Crawford said. 

She worked with all the global fashion houses in the early to mid-90s as well as appearing in advertising campaigns for Pepsi and hosting House of Style. 

She retired from modelling in 2000 but has continued to appear in occasional campaigns and photo shoots. She has since launched furniture lines and is active with many charities close to her heart such as her advocacy work for Best Buddies, who support people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

After her four-year marriage to actor Richard Gere ended in 1995, Crawford met and later married businessman and former model Rande Gerber in 1998. The pair had two children, Presley in 1999 and Kaia in 2001. 

Kaia is a successful supermodel in her own right and has also worked with her mum on several cover shoots and campaigns. 

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Naomi Campbell

Raised by a single mum in South London, Naomi Campbell was training to become a dancer when she was scouted while shopping in Covent Garden. By the age of 16, she appeared on the cover of Elle Magazine and her modelling career took off. In the late 80s, she formed a formidable trio with Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington known as 'Trinity' because they were often booked to work together. 

In 1987, Campbell was the first Black woman to appear on the cover of British Vogue since 1966. In 1989, she was the first woman of colour to appear on the September issue of US Vogue shortly before she worked on the famous ensemble cover with Peter Lindbergh in January 1990.

Over the years, Campbell has worked with some of the biggest names in the fashion and entertainment world, from George Michael and Vivienne Westwood to Michael Jackson and Madonna. 

She struggled with substance abuse and spent time in rehab and has repeatedly spoken out about racism in the fashion industry.

"There is prejudice. It is a problem and I can't go along any more with brushing it under the carpet. This business is about selling, and blonde and blue-eyed girls are what sells," Campbell said in 1997.

In between appearing on the cover of nearly every major fashion magazine around the world, she has also released a novel, an RnB album, 25 different perfumes, and was briefly involved in a failed chain of restaurants. 

She has continued her activism and charity work and was awarded an honorary doctorate from The University of Creative Arts (UCA) in the UK for her impact on global fashion in 2022.

She continues to work on a variety of projects in the fashion world and took on her biggest role to date in May 2021 when she announced the arrival of her daughter.

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Linda Evangelista

Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista is regarded as one of the most influential models of all time and is estimated to have appeared on over 700 magazine covers during her career. Born in 1965 to a working class family in Ontario, she later became famous for the phrase, "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day."

Evangelista began her career working in Japan at age 16, but her experience at the agency was not good, as she recounted to British Vogue in a recent interview.

"I went to the agency, and it was all, 'Take your clothes off, we need measurements,' but they already had my measurements," Evangelista said.

"They wanted me naked, and it wasn’t a 'would you do nudes?' conversation. It was, 'You will do nudes.' I left and called my mother and she said, 'Get out now and get to the embassy.' So that’s what I did, and they got me home."

She was spotted by Elite Model Management at a teen pageant in 1984 and moved to New York. By 1985, she began working with Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel and became his muse. 

Photographers Steven Meisel and Peter Lindbergh were hugely influential in her career, working with Evangelista on some of her most famous photo shoots. Her cropped haircut became legendary in its own right and she began long working relationships with some of the biggest cosmetic brands in the world such as Revlon and Clairol.

After suffering a late miscarriage in 2002, she had her only son Augustin 'Augie' James in 2006. 

Outside of her modelling work, Evangelista has remained a vocal activist for HIV/AIDS research and awareness, as well as for breast cancer research.

She retired from the catwalk in 1998 but made a comeback in 2001, continuing to work in the industry until 2016 when she experienced a rare post-procedure complication after a cosmetic treatment. 

The complication profoundly affected her, and for years she became a recluse. She tried to hide it from her son 'Augie' who realised there was something very wrong with his mum.

"What really stabbed me in the heart was when he said to me, 'Remember when you used to be so much fun? Remember when you used to laugh all the time?' It was such an innocent comment. That was a lot to handle," she told British Vogue.

Listen to an episode of Mamamia's Extraordinary Stories about Linda Evangelista. Post continues below. 

In July 2022, Evangelista settled a lawsuit against the company, writing on her Instagram: "I’m pleased to have settled the case. I look forward to the next chapter of my life with friends and family, and am happy to put this matter behind me."

She has since returned to work and appeared on the cover on British Vogue in August 2022, shot by her favourite photographer, Steven Meisel. 

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Christy Turlington

Born in 1969, the final supermodel of the Vogue cover shoot's 'big five' is Californian native Christy Turlington.

Most known for her work on the Eternity campaign for Calvin Klein, passionate marathon runner Christy Turlington has been married to actor Ed Burns since June 2003 and is mum to daughter Grace born in 2003 and son Finn in 2006.

Turlington began her career at 14 years old and retired from the catwalk at age 25 in 1994.

"I thought, you know what? I'd rather end it when I want to end it, rather than somebody else doing it for me," she told luxury magazine Du Jour in 2012.

She went back to her studies and graduated from New York University in 1999, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus on comparative religion and eastern philosophy. She continued her studies at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health while also keeping a hand in the world of fashion most recently in a campaign for Louis Vuitton.

While still a famous face, Turlington has in the last decade become as well known for her humanitarian and documentary work focused mostly on improving maternal and child health outcomes. 

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Feature Image: Vogue/Canva.

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