Patitz did not fit the typical 80s "glamazon" mold (think big hair, bold shoulders, heavy makeup). Instead, she embodied a cooler, more natural, and strikingly elegant European sensibility (her father was German, her mother Estonian). The judges, particularly Scavullo, were mesmerized by her "intelligent eyes" and "timeless bone structure."
In the mid-1980s, the concept of the "supermodel" was crystallizing. Before the era of Naomi, Cindy, and Linda, there was a seismic shift in how models were perceived—from anonymous mannequins to glamorous, bankable celebrities. At the heart of this transition was a bold, ambitious competition: the first-ever Supermodel of the World contest, held by the Ford Modeling Agency in 1986. supermodel of the world 1986
Though the competition would run for decades (and still exists in modified form today), the 1986 edition remains the most mythologized. It was the year the world stopped just looking at models and started watching them become superstars. Patitz did not fit the typical 80s "glamazon"