vreeland / avedon / vera (veruschka) / vogue

also look for original 1971 documentary “veruschka – poetry of a woman”

veruschka (born vera gottliebe anna von lehndorff) was one of the defining supermodels of the 1960s, standing around 6 ft 3 in (190 cm)—an extraordinary height for a fashion model at the time. born into a prussian aristocratic family, her father was executed by the nazis in 1944 after being linked to the plot to assassinate adolf hitler, a tragedy that profoundly shaped her life. she became famous for her chameleon-like ability to transform her appearance, often using dramatic makeup and body paint to disappear into characters rather than simply model clothes. she also made a memorable cameo in michelangelo antonioni’s materpiece BLOW UP, the iconic 1966 film that captured the era’s fashion scene. in the 1980s, after falling out of fashion’s spotlight, with editors demanding younger and younger models, she reinvented herself as a performance artist, collaborating with photographers on elaborate art photography. along with nico from the velvet underground she was the other tall german “cool girl” in NY.  by xy