Natividad Abascal Biography

Natividad Abascal y Romero-Toro (born in 1943 in Seville; she is more commonly known as Nati Abascal) is a Spanish socialite and a former fashion model, whom designer Valentino met 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 (in 1965 she was on the cover of the prestigious Bazaar magazine) and had a full-time contract with Ford model agency. Valentino brought her to the island of Capri for modeling shoots and, ever since, they've remained close friends. Richard Avedon photographed her and her twin sister Ana María in Ibiza in the 1964 for his 'The Iberians' editorial in Harper's Bazaar and in 1982, years after having left the fashion world, Norman Parkinson decided to portray her too. She is known as one of Valentino's Spanish muses, although she's closely connected as well to Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, among other designers. She made a 'happening/commercial' for Alka-Seltzer with Salvador Dalí in 1974 and had a part in Woody Allen's 1971 film "Bananas". Abascal married Murray Livingston Smith, a Formula One pilot, during her years in the United States. By 1975 they had split up. After that, and once she was back in Spain, she married the Spanish noble Rafael Medina y Fernandez de Cordova, Duke of Feria, in 1977. They were married until 1989. Rafael died on August 9, 2001 after some troublesome last years. . She has two sons, Rafael, born on September 25, 1978, who is the present Duke of Feria, and Luis, born on 30 August 1980. Nati Abascal still keeps her youthful looks and beauty, and is one of the most dashing and well-connected persons in the fashion circles worldwide.

Source: Wikipedia