On Friday, Maggie Tabberer's family announced on social media that the Australian TV and fashion icon had died at the age of 87.

Tabberer is most well known as the former fashion editor of the Australian Women's Weekly, having the job for 15 years.

But her career included everything from modelling work to running a fashion label, hosting a TV show and gracing the front pages of magazines until her 80s, making her a household name.

Here are five of her best moments.

A criminal photo shoot

Born in Adelaide, Tabberer was discovered by famed German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton in Melbourne at the age of 23.

She worked with him through the late 1950s, including on assignment for Vogue magazine.

Tabberer's strong features and cool confident gaze featured in many memorable Newton images and the two became lovers.

She said Newton taught her a lot about fashion, putting her on "the most enormous learning curve".

In her 1998 autobiography Maggie, Tabberer reminisced about a photo shoot resembling a jewellery robbery complete with a Mayne Nickless truck.

Tabberer posed as a "wicked lady", trailing jewels.

The scene was so realistic police turned up.

She was named Australia's Model of the Year in 1960, before turning her focus to television.

A Logies record

In 1964 she became a panellist on the Seven Network show Beauty And The Beast, staring down "beastly" host Eric Baume with the help of fellow "beauties" Dita Cobb, Pat Firman, Ena Harwood, Hazel Philips, Anne Deveson and Patricia Lovell.

Even in a show that critics dismissed as "sheer nonsense", Tabberer's mix of intellect, looks and common sense shone through.

It marked the beginning of a long career on Australian screens.

She created her own daily chat show, Maggie, in 1969, for which she won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Female Personality back-to-back in 1970 and 1971.

She was the first person to win consecutive awards, although Graham Kennedy had already won three non-consecutive Gold Logies by 1970.

She spoke about the impact of Beauty And The Beast and Maggie on an episode of This Is Your Life.

A plus-size fashion label that 'blazed that trail'

Tabberer launched the plus-size clothing label Maggie T in 1981 and that same year became fashion editor of The Australian Women's Weekly — an influential post she held for 15 years.

The Maggie T label was founded for women sized 12 to 24. According to research at the time, 70 per cent of Australian women were size 14 or bigger.

During an interview with the magazine, Tabberer said it was important for women who were not standard size to dress to their strengths.

"It's a matter of knowing what you've got. My body has thickened but I don't have a big bottom. My best thing? My long, slim legs — they're why I wear trousers a lot," she said.

"I don't have a waist so I never belt it. But I do like to be belted at the hip because that makes me narrower there and longer. That's one of the things about knowing your figure's faults."

In 1998, Tabberer was made a member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to the advancement of the Australian fashion industry and for her support of charitable organisations.

Speaking on ABC Conversations in 2009, Tabberer said working in fashion brought a significant amount of joy — especially when it came to providing creative clothing options to plus-size Australian women.

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"With Maggie T, we had a $5 million order from the Myer group on the first showing, which was unheard of. It just took off like mad," she said.

"[That size range] wasn't being catered for at the time."

The magazine's current editor, Sophie Tedmanson, said Tabberer was an icon who empowered women around the world.

"It was an era in which Australian fashion took on the world and Maggie blazed that trail," she said.

"We thank Maggie for her extraordinary legacy and send love to her entire family."

An Archibald finalist

In 1999, Tabberer sat for Australian artist Paul Newton for the first time.

At that point, Newton had already won the 1996 Archibald Packing Room Prize with a portrait of radio announcer John Laws.

He would win it again in 2001, along with the People's Choice award, with a portrait of characters Roy Slaven and HG Nelson.

But Newton landed in the Archibald finalist list twice for portraits of Tabberer.

While speaking about his 1999 piece, Newton said he "was struck by the fact that after years as a model, posing for the camera, she was very aware of how she appears".

"Maggie was a bit teary and said it was a very emotional experience — as an artist you can't ask for a better reaction than that."

After returning to Tabberer as a subject for his 2020 finalist piece, Newton said he had "often thought of approaching her again".

"Before COVID-19 hit, I got together with Maggie, now in her mid-80s (though just as elegant and beautiful as ever), to work with her again on this new portrait," he said.

"I was again drawn to the simplicity and graphic quality of this sort of composition; her strong presence needing nothing else to support her."

One last appearance in Australian Women's Weekly

Australian Women's Weekly most recently photographed Tabberer for what would be her very last shoot — for the September 2023 cover to celebrate the magazine's 90th anniversary.

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"She showed women that you could be gorgeous and relevant at every age, right up until she appeared on the 90th birthday edition of The Weekly in her 80s," former editor Deborah Thomas said.

During the interview, she quipped about her famous "black for the winter, white for the summer" looks, and revealed how she decided on her name.

While starting out as a model she called herself Margaret May, but Helmut Newton told her it would not suit.

"He renamed me. Helmut coined Maggie and it stuck," she said.

She said she felt "lucky" to be offered The Australian Women's Weekly fashion editor job in 1981, and said she created her plus-size label "for women like me".

"People always loved what I wore and there was nothing out there for them. There were crossover bodices and wrap dresses and skirts, and they looked really bad," she said.

"Maggie T was a success pretty much immediately."