STELLA TENNANT
A Royal Punk Changed Fashion Forever
British supermodel Stella Tennant passed away suddenly on December 22nd, just five days after her 50th birthday.
Tennant first broke into the fashion world in the early 1990s and modeled right alongside fellow supermodels of the decade, including Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Kate Moss. Tennant quickly set herself apart with her androgynous look and short pixie hairstyle.
At nearly six feet tall, her boyish looks and punky/rebellious septum piercing caught the attention of famed photographer Steven Meisel after he hosted a casting call for unknowns. Soon after, Tennant found herself on the cover of Italian Vogue. Her ease with male/female duality kept her in high demand with a myriad of designers, one of which was none other than Gianni Versace, who called her his muse. Her ability to embody multiple fashion archetypes is what made her so special. And bankable.
Stella Tennant ruled the runways for nearly all the major fashion brands during her three-decade career – Balenciaga, Valentino, and Chanel just to name a few. Speaking of the latter, Chanel’s Creative Director at the time, Karl Lagerfeld, named her as the face of the brand in 1996. That same year, Tennant modeled Chanel’s now-iconic micro-mini bikini during the label’s Haute Couture show.
Countless well-known figures in the fashion world have taken to social media or the press to express their grief over Tennant’s sudden death. In a statement to People magazine, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour shared her thoughts on the late fashion icon:
“Stella was the definition of original in everything that she did and through everything she stood for. She brought her acute intelligence and innate sense of style every time she worked with us; her presence always transcended any quotidien notion that she was just a model.”
“Just a model” Stella Tennant definitely was not. She helped define an era in fashion and continued to shape future ones, having modeled for nearly 30 years (an almost impossible feat in the fashion world). Her androgynous look set her apart from the pack and kept designers interested and inspired for countless collections.
