Jan Margaret de Souza Gold (14 August 1940 – 11 June 2022) was a British model and nightclub hostess.

Jan de Souza
A young brown-skinned woman with short dark hair, wearing a yellow top
Jan de Souza, from a 1967 magazine
Born
Jan Margaret de Souza

14 August 1940
Agra, India
Died11 June 2022 (aged 81)
Occupation(s)Fashion model, nightclub hostess
SpouseJohnny Gold

Early life

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Jan de Souza was born in Agra, India, the daughter of George de Souza and Inez de Souza. Her father was a railway executive. Her first language was Hindi; she was raised in London after 1948.[1][2]

Career

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At art school in the early 1960s, de Souza met designer Mary Quant,[3] and became a model for Quant's fashion ideas,[4] especially the popular miniskirt.[5] She also modeled designs by Foale and Tuffin,[6] posed with musicians including a young David Bowie,[1] and usually appeared in a short Vidal Sassoon hairstyle. She worked in Australia in 1967 and 1968.[7][8][9] She retired from modeling after she married in 1971, and was the hostess of her husband's exclusive Tramp nightclub in London.[2]

Personal life

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Jan de Souza married Johnny Gold in 1971; writer Jackie Collins stood as de Souza's maid of honor at the wedding.[2] They had two children. They retired to the Bahamas in 2003, and he died in October 2021.[10] She died from cancer in June 2022, at the age of 81.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jan de Souza obituary". The Sunday Times. 21 June 2022. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Coke, Hope (20 June 2022). "Swinging Sixties muse and grande dame of London's social scene Jan de Souza dies at 81". Tatler. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Coming for the Cup". The Australian Women's Weekly: 9. 25 October 1967 – via Trove.
  4. ^ Quant, Mary (1966). Quant by Quant. Internet Archive. London : Pan. pp. 169, 190.
  5. ^ Levy, Shawn (2003). Ready, steady, go! : the smashing rise and giddy fall of swinging London. Internet Archive. New York : Broadway Books. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-7679-0588-6.
  6. ^ Webb, Iain R. (2009). Foale and Tuffin : the sixties : a decade in fashion. Internet Archive. Woodbridge : ACC Editions ; New York, NY. pp. 12, 125. ISBN 978-1-85149-606-8.
  7. ^ "London look at Flemington". The Australian Women's Weekly: 3. 22 November 1967 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "What people are wearing in Sydney". The Australian Women's Weekly: 8. 20 March 1968 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ Beach, Camilla (21 February 1968). "London Models on the Move". Australian Women's Weekly. p. 14. Retrieved 4 December 2022 – via Trove.
  10. ^ Cope, Rebecca (8 October 2021). "Johnny Gold, the legendary founder of Tramp nightclub, has died aged 89". Tatler. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
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