Natividad Abascal y Romero-Toro (born 2 April 1943, in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain), more commonly known as Naty Abascal () formerly, the Duchess of Feria, is a Spanish socialite and former fashion model. She has been a member of the

International Best Dressed List The International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time. The American magazine '' Vanity Fair'' is currently in charge of the List ...

since 1984.

Biography

Naty Abascal is the daughter of Domingo Abascal y Fernández, a wealthy lawyer and owner of a vast olive grove estate in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, and his wife María Natividad Romero-Toro y Noriega, and the granddaughter of Joaquín Romero y de Ochoa, 3th Marquis of Romero-Toro (a papal title). She was born with a twin sister into a family of 12 siblings. Her modeling career started when Spanish fashion designer Elio Berhanyer asked both her and her twin sister Ana María Abascal to model some of his designs at the International Exhibition in New York in 1964. The couple caught

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

's eye and he decided to photograph them in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

later in 1964 for his 'The Iberians (The Blaze in Spain)' editorial in

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

. By 1965 Abascal was on the cover of this publication in another photograph signed by Avedon. After this, her modeling career took off and she fixed her residence in New York. Among others, she worked for

Oscar de la Renta Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...

from his very early days -in fact they met while he was still working for

Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden (December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966), also known as Elizabeth N. Graham, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. Backg ...

- and became great friends, a friendship that lasted until his death. Designer Valentino met Abascal in 1968 at a party when she was 25 years old. By then, she had already been working as a model in New York for at least 3 years and had a full-time contract with Ford model agency; years later she would also be employed by Wilhelmina model agency. Valentino brought her to the island of

Capri Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

for modeling shoots and, ever since, they've remained close friends. In 1971 Abascal married Murray Livingstone Smith, a vice-president of an advertising agency, although this has been disputed. They met at Cartier in NYC, and a few months later Smith sent a red Ferrari to her house with a note saying "Marry me". They did, but split up in 1975. In 1971 she also had a short role within

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

's 1971 film "Bananas" as the guerrilla girl Yolanda. This same year she posed nude for Playboy magazine and was also the cover of Andy Warhol's magazine "Interview". In 1974 she made a 'commercial/happening' for Alka-Seltzer with

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

which was seen as "too aggressive" by certain viewers. Dalí was shown pretending to stab Naty with some paint brushes, at the same time as he painted her body. The commercial was not particularly successful and was taken back from public view quite quickly. Towards the end of 1975 she returned to her home in Seville (Spain). She reunited with an ex-boyfriend from her teenage years, Rafael Medina y Fernandez de Cordoba,

Duke of Feria Duke of Feria () is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain accompanied by the dignity of Grandee, granted in 1567 by Philip II to Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 5th Count of Feria. The name makes reference to the town of Feria in Badajoz. C ...

and Marquis of Villalba and they married in July 1977 and had two sons: Rafael, born on 25 September 1978, who is the present Duke of Feria, and Luis, born on 30 August 1980. At the beginning of the 1980s, and well after having left the fashion world, she jumped again on the catwalks for her friend

Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño, 8 January 1939) is a Venezuelan Americans, Venezuelan American fashion designer. Known for her personal style, she founded her namesake brand in 1980. Herrera has designed for va ...

's first collection. It would be her last catwalk show. In 1982, several years after having left the fashion world,

Norman Parkinson Norman Parkinson (21 April 1913 – 15 February 1990) was an English portrait and fashion photographer. His work revolutionised British fashion photography, as he moved his subjects out of the studio and used outdoor settings. While serving ...

decided to portray her in the Caribbean for Town and Country magazine. In 1984 she presented Oscar de la Renta's collection to the Spanish media and in 1987

Lord Snowdon Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017) was a British photographer. He is best known internationally for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue (magazine), Vogu ...

also photographed her in Seville. Naty and Rafael Medina split up in 1989 and divorced on unfriendly terms. Abascal is known as one of

Valentino Garavani Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (; born 11 May 1932), known mononymously as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer, the founder of the Valentino (fashion house), Valentino brand and company. His main lines include Valentino, Valentino G ...

's Spanish muses and she's also closely connected to

and

, among other designers. She still works regularly as a stylist for Hola! magazine as well as many other punctual projects.

Notable published works

* ''Cuestión de estilo''. Martínez Roca. Barcelona. 2000. * ''Manual de estilo de Naty Abascal con Vicente Gallart''. Grijalbo. Madrid. 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abascal, Naty Living people Spanish female models Spanish socialites Spanish duchesses 1943 births