Dayle Haddon, the only model to have had four major cosmetics contracts, died Friday.
Haddon died and an unidentified 76-year-old individual was hospitalized due to a carbon monoxide leak in Buck’s County, Pa., according to CBS News. The home where the victims were reportedly found was said to be owned by Haddon’s former journalist daughter Ryan and Ryan’s actor husband, Marc Blucas. Officials at the Solebury, Pa., police department did not respond immediately to media requests Saturday morning about the incident. Representatives from the Bucks County coroner’s office were out on police calls and were not immediately available for comment.
Her daughter described Haddon in an Instagram post, “She held so many up, saw their greatness sometimes hidden to them and always built bridges with their own connections to help them ascend. She was everyone’s greatest champion. An inspiration to many.”
A believer in beauty being how you treat people, Haddon had a longtime association with L’Oréal, including a few years of philanthropic efforts. In the past few decades she was known more as a model-turned-activist thanks to her years as a UNICEF ambassador and her education-focused nonprofit Women One.
By her own account, she consulted with G7 officials about gender equality.
In a 2017 interview, Haddon said her definition of beauty had evolved over the years since she began modeling in the Seventies. She said, “The way I looked was not the look at the time — very tall Nordic or Texan blonde girl. I was a very small, dark-haired Canadian with little freckles. It just wasn’t an ‘in’ look. There wasn’t a lot of diversity in looks, which there is now and is great.”
Haddon added, “It took me a long time to be successful, which makes you more grateful.”
Dayle Haddon in 1983.
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
“Owing everything” to fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, whom she worked with more than anyone, Haddon said, “We didn’t care about the paycheck; we only cared about creating great photos.”
Sarah Moon, Helmut Newton, Cecil Beaton, Jacques Henri Lartigue and Horst were other collaborators. “For me, modeling has a lot of richness, history and depth for relating, being exposed to creativity and a complicity when people work together on something artistic and really great,” she said.
Haddon proved just that earlier this month when attending the Ann Taylor store opening in New York City’s Flatiron district with her daughter. Having appeared in a campaign for the brand more than a decade ago that was shot by Annie Leibovitz, Haddon brought a still to show Ann Taylor executives and reminisced about the shoot. As one of the more seasoned models, who was among the first to get back in front of the camera years after their fame, Haddon was photographed by Leibovitz wearing a pale blue turtleneck, laughing with one hand partially covering one of her eyes. That relaxed and easygoing demeanor and minimalist style was what she presented in interviews too.
A 1976 shoot with Lord Snowdon of Haddon dining alone with some high-powered European designers in their homes or wherever they preferred to be photographed was one of her favorites. She told WWD, “Some refused. Some were welcoming. Some destroyed the outfit [she was to wear] and had to stay up all night [to work as a result]. Some decided they wanted to eat caviar on the Champs Elysees.”
Haddon said. “[Emanuel] Ungaro said he was too shy and would never bring anyone to his home. He wanted to go to his favorite restaurant. With [Yves] Saint Laurent, I was at his house. [Pierre] Cardin was more emphatic about what he wanted and smart about what he wanted. [Pierre] Balmain did not want to do it but he agreed as long as I did not look at him. I was not allowed to have a glass of wine or eat with him.”
Having trained as a dancer, Haddon had a certain poise, with demure features and twinkling blue eyes. “A great model has to bring something of herself, but be in the style of the photographer,” said Haddon, naming Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid (“adorable and a look of our time”) and Christy Turlington as current favorites. Along with philanthropic ties, Kloss and Turlington understand that modeling is a business. They know, ‘How do you extend the longevity? How do you turn it into more than your five minutes of fame?’” she said.
Her definition of beauty also changed. “Beauty in your 20s is a wrinkle-free beauty, with no marks, no experience. It takes time for experience and that’s a different kind of beauty. For me, a lot of beauty is wrapped up in how you treat people, how you feel about yourself and how generous you are. Generous means many things — listening, including or being kind to people. It can also be about giving, doing what you can, or making a positive difference wherever you are with whoever you meet as best you can. That’s real beauty,” Haddon said in 2017. “You can’t desperately hang onto what you looked like or what you were like in your 20s, 30s or 40s. Even though you let go of some gifts, you embrace some new gifts.”
WomenOne sprang from a visit to an Angola health clinic where women had walked all night, in some cases carrying children, to get care. As a longtime UNICEF ambassador, Haddon trekked all over Africa and South America, where cholera and other diseases, hunger and poverty are destroying lives. WomenOne specialized in microdonations that some companies or NGOs might deem too small.
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Model Dayle Haddon attends the UN Women for Peace Association March In March Awards Luncheon at ONE UN New York on March 10, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
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In 2017, she was honored by the United Nations Women for Peace Association Awards. That same year Haddon took her empowerment message to Washington, D.C., with the help of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In honor of the “International Day of the Girl,” Haddon joined the leader, his then wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Canada’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, and others who have “generous spirits, had a fierce intellect and deep passion for women’s issues” in a roundtable discussion.
She also called on support from the fashion and beauty industries. Haddon told WWD before her United Nations Women for Peace award in 2017, “This is an industry that creates things for women and girls. We have to do something for their benefit not just something they buy,” adding that Apple was supporting her WomenOne initiative. Haddon shared her insights about longevity in her Simon & Schuster-published book “The Five Principles of Ageless Living: A Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Health, Beauty and Well-being.”
Aside from her daughter, the names of Haddon’s survivors were not immediately known.
Editor’s Note: This article is in development.
