British model Stella Tennant has died at the age of 50, her family announced, asking to respect their privacy. Her death was "sudden" and police said there were "no suspicious circumstances". The model was known for her androgynous looks, pixie haircut, presence and aristocratic heritage.
Tennant was born in 1970 to the Hon. Tobias Tennant and his wife Lady Emma - daughter of the 11th Duke of Devonshire Andrew Cavendish, and his wife Deborah Mitford, the youngest of the famous high-society Mitford sisters. She grew up on a farm in the Scottish Borders and Tennant studied sculpture at the Winchester College of Art.
Discovered by Vogue photographer Steven Meisel, she was reluctant to become a model, being afraid she may have been objectified by what she considered a shallow world.
Her first shoot by Meisel eventually appeared on British Vogue in December 1993. Entitled "Anglo-Saxon Attitude", the shoot focused on eccentric British style and the images were considered controversial at the time as Tennant had a nose ring that she didn't want to remove for the photographs. The nose ring ended up adding a punk attitude to the shoot.
She then worked with many designers including Alexander McQueen (she also walked in the Spring 1996 show "The Hunger" and in the Spring 1997 show "La Poupée"), Nicolas Ghesquière, Riccardo Tisci, Calvin Klein, Jean Paul Gaultier and Burberry.
Tennant combined a tomboy attitude with a ladylike elegance, qualities that fascinated many designers: she became indeed a muse to Karl Lagerfeld, who chose her to be the face of Chanel in the '90s, and Versace (the Italian fashion house paid a tribute to her on Instagram with the message: "Versace is mourning the death of Stella Tennant. Stella was Gianni Versace’s muse for many years and friend of the family. We will miss you forever Stella. Rest In Peace.").
In the late '90s she married French-born photographer David Lasnet and after her first pregnancy she retired from the industry. The couple had four children and Tennant returned to the runways at the beginning of the 2000s. She also starred in the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, wearing a gold and aluminium chainmail suit by Christopher Kane, alongside fellow British models Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.
In 2017 she lent some of the designs from her collection to the exhibition "House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth", a celebration of Chatsworth House, in the heart of Derbyshire Peak District National Park, home to the Cavendish family since the 16th century. One of the images included in the show (taken by Mario Testino in 2010) featured Tennant next to her proud grandmother Deborah Mitford Devonshire, the 11th Duchess, at Chatsworth.
Tennant’s final British Vogue cover was in 2018 and was shot by Meisel; the model recently walked the runway during the Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 show.
Tennant's main passion remained sculpture and she also established a studio at her home, a farmhouse located in Berwickshire, where she worked with her sister Issy on their luxury homewares brand, Tennant & Tennant. In more recent years she became very passionate about environmental issues and took part in campaigns for nonprofit organisations.
The fashion community and designers who worked with her expressed their sadness to the model's sudden passing on social media. Tennant, who had turned 50 just a few days ago, is survived by her husband David Lasnet, and their children, Marcel, Cecily, Jasmine, and Iris.
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