A look back at Stella Tennant's modelling legacy

With a career spanning three decades, Tennant was one of the biggest models of the 1990s

Model Stella Tennant and daughter Iris star in Oxfam's Second Hand September initiative, August 2019. Tom Craig / Oxfam

Stella Tennant at the finale for Chanel, March 2011. Stephen Lock for The National.

Stella Tennant on the runway at the spring / summer 2020 collection by Saint Laurent , Paris September 2019. EPA

Stella Tennant walks for Prada during Milan Fashion Week, in Milan February 2016. EPA

For the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Stella Tennant walks with other British models Lily Cole, Karen Elson, Kate Moss, Lily Donaldson, Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn, Georgia May Jagger and David Gandy. AP

Stella Tennant wearing Haute Couture Winter 2014/15 by Atelier Versace July 2014. EPA

Stella Tennant attends the Chanel Haute Couture Winter 2018/2019 show at Paris Fashion Week in July 2018. Getty Images

Stella Tennant at the Chanel Haute Couture Spring Summer 2019, Paris Fashion Week, January 2019. Getty Images

Karl Lagerfeld and Stella Tennant after Chanel's fashion show in Havana, Cuba, May 2016. EPA

Stella Tennant on the runway for Gianfranco Ferre's autumn/winter 2001/02 collection, Milan March 4, 2001. PC

Stella Tennant seen ahead of the Metiers d'Art Show in Paris by Chanel, December 2016. Reuters

Karl Lagerfeld and Stella Tennant walk the runway for the finale of the Chanel Metiers d'Art Pre-Fall show, December 2016. AFP

Stella Tennant presents a creation for Chanel for the spring/summer 2013 ready-to-wear collection in Paris. AFP

Tennant on the catwalk for the Salvatore Ferragamo spring / summer women's collection 2019, shown in September 2018, Milan. AFP

Stella Tennant poses ahead of the Chanel Haute Couture summer 2018 collection, in Paris, January 2018. AP

May 22, 1999, Stella Tennant marries David Lasnet in Oxnam, on the Scottish Borders. AP

Stella Tennant attends the Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! charity dinner hosted by the Isabella Blow Foundation at Claridge's Hotel on November 19, 2013 in London. Getty Images

Stella Tennant presents a creation for Yves Saint Laurent, in July 2001, as part of the winter 2001/2002 haute couture collections. AFP

Anna Cleveland, Julien d'Ys, and Stella Tennant at the opening of Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between"Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 1, 2017, New York. Getty Images

Stella Tennant modeling for Chanel, during the autumn/winter 2012-2013 ready-to-wear collection show. March 2012, Paris. AFP

With Claudia Schiffer, Stella Tennant wears Chanel for the 1997 spring/summer collection, October 1996 in Paris. AFP

Stella Tennant in Dior 2005-06 Winter Haute Couture, July 2005, in Paris. AFP

A giant poster of British model Stella Tennant is carried during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, August 2012. AFP

February 2004, Stella Tennant on the runway for the Dolce and Gabbana's autumn/winter 2004-2005 women's collection, Milan Fashion Week. AFP

Stella Tennant arrives at The Fashion Awards 2019, at the Royal Albert Hall on December 2, 2019 in London. Getty Images

Stella Tennant and her daughter Jasmine at the Chanel Haute Couture Winter 2018/2019 show, Paris Fashion Week, July 2018 in Paris. Getty Images

October 1996, Stella Tennant wearing Jean-Paul Gaultier at the 1997 spring/summer show.

Wearing Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld for the haute couture winter 2001/02 collection. Paris, July 2001. AFP

Stella Tennant wearing a look at the Dolce & Gabbana spring summer 2004 collection. Milan, October 2003. AFP

Stella Tennant wearing a dress by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel as part of the 1996 winter haute couture show, Paris July 9, 1996 in Paris. AFP

The news of model Stella Tennant's death has left a sombre mood over the fashion industry.

With her trademark androgynous look, Tennant was one of the most in-demand models during the 1990s. Gracing innumerable runways and magazine covers, Tennant's boyish beauty and signature pixie crop were as instrumental in shaping the direction of fashion as Kate Moss's waif-like frame.

Beloved by designers, Tennant was often chosen for the finale look at shows, appearing alongside Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and as the bride for Gianni Versace, as well as for the masculine edge she brought to a look.

Stella Tennant with designer Gianni Versace, for the spring 1996 haute couture collection for Versace. Getty Images

Hailing from aristocratic stock, she was the granddaughter of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, Andrew Cavendish, and Deborah Mitford, and was the driving force behind turning Cavendish House into a fashion archive, when she stumbled upon boxes of original Balenciaga gowns stored in the attic.

With a priceless collection of couture gathered by her family, fashion was very much in Tennant's blood, yet it was a surprise when this upper class girl took to the runway in the early 1990s. Despite her fame, she largely stepped away from the industry in 1998, to better focus on raising her four children with her husband David Lasnet.

Various designers succeeded in luring Tennant out of retirement, however, including Alexander McQueen, Jean Paul Gaultier and Chanel, and when organisers were planning the closing ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, Tennent was one of the handful of famous British faces chosen to represent the UK's standing in global fashion, alongside Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and David Gandy.

More recently, Tennant again took to the runway, walking for Berluti in 2018, and Alexander McQueen in 2019. For the Saint Laurent spring / summer 2020 collection, shown in Paris in September 2019, she wore a glistening black tuxedo, while for the summer 2020 haute couture collection for Valentino, in January 2020, she opened the show dressed in a strapless fishtail gown, layered with a sheer blouse and pussy bow tie. With her easy grace, and unique style, Tennant will be missed.