Famed fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier dies at 78

Patrick Demarchelier, one of the photographers whose work defined fashion for the decades around the turn of the millennium, died on Thursday. He was 78.

His death was announced on his Instagram page.

The personal portraitist of Diana, Princess of Wales, Demarchelier was most famous for his work with both Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and he was the subject of a major bidding war between the glossies. Indeed, he became so synonymous with Vogue that his name made a cameo in The Devil Wears Prada. “Get me Patrick” was a much-quoted line from the film.

The combination of ease and elegance set his work apart. His photographs of Diana often had an unstudied aspect that crystallised the princess’ informal personality, such as a snap of her sitting on the floor in a strapless white gown and diamond tiara, hugging her knees.

Born in 1943, Patrick Demarchelier grew up in Le Havre, France, and moved to Paris at age 20, though he made his career in the United States. Indeed, after a stint as an assistant, he began shooting for American Vogue even before he moved to New York in 1975. He had a long creative partnership with stylist Grace Coddington at both British Vogue and American Vogue. However, it was his cover shot of Linda Evangelista for the September 1992 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, one eye hidden by an arm holding up an “A” of the title, that declared the arrival of a new editor, Liz Tilberis, and a new aesthetic.

Beyond magazines, Demarchelier also worked with such brands as Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren, Chanel and Giorgio Armani, and he photographed the Pirelli calendar three times: in 2005, 2008 and 2014 (the last in conjunction with photographer Peter Lindbergh).

In 2018, as the fashion world grappled with its history of sexual harassment and abuse of power, Demarchelier was the subject of an article in The Boston Globe in which numerous models alleged unwanted advances. He denied the accusations, but his relationship with Condé Nast was terminated.