Stella Tennant, the British supermodel who graced the covers of fashion magazines and was famous for her beauty and style, died Tuesday, her family said. She was 50.
A police spokesman said there were “no suspicious circumstances” surrounding Tennant’s death, the BBC reported. Tennant died five days after her 50th birthday.
“It is with great sadness we announce the sudden death of Stella Tennant on 22nd December 2020,” Tennant’s family said in a statement to the PA news agency. “Stella was a wonderful woman and an inspiration to us all. She will be greatly missed. Her family asks for their privacy to be respected. Arrangements for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.”
Noted for her pixie haircut and statuesque frame, Tennant became a favorite of fashion designers during the 1990s. She was one of the original 1990s supermodels who, alongside Kate Moss and Erin O’Connor, ushered in an era of androgyny on the catwalk, The Guardian reported. Tennant also appeared in several high-profile advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein and Hermes.
Tennant’s style captured the attention of the late Karl Lagerfeld, who named her a face of Chanel in 1996. She also debuted a Chanel micro-mini bikini during the label’s Haute Couture show, People reported. The 1996 model shoot went on to become a famous look in the pop-culture history of runway fashion, the magazine reported.
In 2012, Tennant was inducted into the Scottish Fashion Awards Hall of Fame.
Tennant also campaigned to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry, NBC News reported.
“It’s going to take us a long time to change our habits, but I think that this is so obviously a step in the right direction,” she told The Guardian in 2019.
Tennant retired from the fashion industry in 1998, returning on a part-time basis to shoot clothing campaigns and appear on the runway.
She starred in the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the BBC reported.
Tennant is survived by her husband, David Lasnet, and their four children.