Lynn Kohlman
3.3
4 votes
Astrological Zodiac sign: Leo
Date of death: September 14, 2008
Aged: 62
Lynn Eleanor Kohlman was a fashion model, photographer, author, and creative director at DKNY.
Kohlman was born in Teaneck, New Jersey to Clement Wolfe Kohlman (1916-2000). She majored in art history at Oberlin College, graduating summa cum laude, and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. While at Oberlin, she spent one semester in Florence, Italy, helping restore works of art.
She began as a fashion model while in high school, working occasionally during college to pay tuition, and during the summers. She appeared on the covers of major fashion magazines. In 1968 she became engaged to Arnold LaGuardia, although the marriage was to end in divorce. In the 1970s, she was a photographer for Interview, Vogue, GQ and Glamour. In 1983, she married Mark Obenhaus, a documentary film producer she had known as a student at Oberlin, with whom she had been re-acquainted through a mutual friend. In 1989 she was appointed the fashion director of the Donna Karan Company and later was involved with Tommy Hilfiger's launch of his women’s wear line. In 2002, she was diagnosed first with breast cancer, then with glioblastoma multiforme, a brain cancer.
She died on September 14, 2008 from complications from her cancer.
She is survived by her husband, Obenhaus, and their son, Sam.
See also: Model, American, Author, DKNY, Photographer, Phi Beta Kappa, Oberlin College
