Kate Moss

The "anti-supermodel"

The English model, Kate Moss, was born in 16 January 1974. Moss rose to fame in the early-1990’s, as part of the Heroin chic fashion trend, she is known for her waifish figure, and her role in size zero fashion. She is also famous for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use.

TIME magazine named Moss in 2007, one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2012, she came in second on the Forbes top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $9.2 million in one year. Aside from modeling, Moss has embarked on numerous ventures, both fashion related and non-fashion related which include her own clothing line and involvement in musical projects.

Kate was born in Croydon, Surrey to Linda Rosina (Shepherd), a barmaid, and Peter Edward Moss, a travel agent and grew up in the Addiscombe area of the town. She has a younger brother named Nick and a half-sister named Lottie (Charlotte) and half-brother. Kate’s parents divorced when she was 13. She attended Ridgeway Primary School and Riddlesdown Collegiate, formerly known as Riddlesdown High School, in Purley.

 

Kate was discovered in 1988 at the age of 14 by Sarah Doukas, the founder of Storm Model Management, at JFK Airport in New York City, after a holiday in the Bahamas. Her career began when Corinne Day shot black-and-white photographs of her, styled by Melanie Ward, for British magazine The Face when she was 16, in a photo shoot titled "The 3rd Summer of Love". Day discovered Kate Moss when she was a young and unknown model and described the pictures that she took of Moss as ‘dirty realism’ or ‘grunge’. Moss then went on to become the "anti-supermodel" of the 1990’s in contrast to the "supermodels" of the moment, such as Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, who were known for their curvaceous and tall figures.

Kate Moss was voted 9-th in Maxim's "50 Sexiest Women of 1999" and 22-nd in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women of 1995". Men's magazine Arena named her as their Sexiest Woman in their 150th issue. She was presented on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American Vogue as one of the "Modern Muses". In March 2007, Moss won the Sexiest Woman NME Award. She made her first appearance in the British women's Sunday Times Rich List in 2007, where she was estimated to be worth £45 million. She ranked as the 99th richest woman in Britain.

In the 2009 Rich List, she was ranked as the 1,348-th richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £40 million. In July 2007, when she had earned an estimated total of $9 million in the preceding 12 months, Forbes magazine named her second on the list of the World's 15 top-earning models list.

In 2012 she was included on MODELS.com's 'The Supers' list. Moss is represented by number one international modeling agency IMG Models. In February 2013 Moss appeared in a intimate cover photo shoot with Rihanna for V Magazine. 

The shoot involved both Moss and and Rihanna posing near naked while the other sat on their lap in lingerie as they seductively cuddled together.

Her style

Moss ushered in the heroin chic look in 1993 (which prompted much speculation over her weight), with a highly publicised campaign for Calvin Klein. Her depiction in photographs also drew criticism from then-President of the United States Bill Clinton, who spoke out against the growing heroin chic trend.When questioned about her weight, Moss commented, "It was just the time. It was a swing from more buxom girls like Cindy Crawford and people were shocked to see what they called a 'waif'. What can you say? How many times can you say 'I'm not anorexic'?".

In addition to being known for her modelling work, Kate Moss is also an international fashion icon.She has earned many awards for her style, including the Council of Fashion Designers of America's fashion influence award and a place on the Vanity Fair international best-dressed list. In the early part of the 21-st century, she was, together with actress Sienna Miller, one of the main proponents of boho-chic. She appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair's September 2006 style issue. In recent years, she has popularised denim cutoff shorts, Ugg boots, ballet flats, Vivienne Westwood Pirate Boots, skinny jeans, waistcoat, Alexander McQueen's skull scarf, Louis Vuitton's Sprouse Leopard Cashmere Scarf, and the Balenciaga handbag. In 2008, Moss was added to PETA's 'Worst-Dressed' Celebrities of 2008' because of her frequent use of fur.

The Campaigns

Kate has had campaigns with major Italian, French, American, and British designers including Gucci, Dolce&Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Rimmel and Bulgari. She has been featured in fashion spreads in most major fashion magazines including UK, US, and French Vogue magazines (as well as other international versions of Vogue), Another Man, Vanity Fair, the Face, and W. Moss has appeared on the cover of British Vogue 30 times, in addition to dozens of other international Vogue covers, and has been featured on the cover of 17 issues of W, including one issue with nine different covers that featured the model. W even names Moss its muse (September 2003 issue). She has worked with the most well-known photographers in the fashion industry, such as Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein, Juergen Teller, and Peter Lindbergh and won the prestigious Vogue/CFDA award from the Fashion Designers of America in July 2005 as Fashion Inspiration. April 2005 saw the launch of the Rimmel London mascara TV ad featuring a leather-clad Kate Moss riding a motorbike through London to the sound of the rock song "Another Cold Beer" by Steven Crayn, an advertising campaign that is still running.

Twelve months after her cocaine scandal, Moss made a comeback by bagging 18 top modelling contracts for the Autumn/Winter 2006 season including Rimmel, Agent Provocateur, Virgin Mobile, Calvin Klein Jeans and Burberry. Moss designed a collection, in collaboration with Katy England, for Topshop. Moss launched a fragrance and body lotion range bearing her name in association with Coty in 2007.

According to Forbes, Moss has earned more money since then than ever before: her 2004–2005 earnings were $5 million and her 2005–2006 earnings were $8 million. In 2007, with estimated earnings of $9 million, she was the second highest paid model in the world, behind Gisele Bündchen. In November 2006, Moss won the Model of the Year prize at the British Fashion Awards, the top accolade in British fashion, but the award divided opinion and stirred fresh controversy.

In 2012 Moss appeared as a Model for the Spring/Summer Collection for Supreme. Moss was an Ambassador and the face of the Spanish fashion retailer Mango since autumn 2011. In November 2012, it was announced that Australian model Miranda Kerr had replaced Moss for its spring/summer 2013 campaign.

Kate Mos - Fashion designer

On 1 May 2007, a collection of clothes designed by Moss exclusively for the Topshop chain were launched across the UK in the chain's 225 stores. A Kate Moss "countdown to launch" board filled a window of the company's flagship Oxford Street store and on 30 April, Moss launched the clothing line at Topshop in Oxford Street, where she briefly appeared in the shop window modelling a red dress from the clothing collection just before the shop was opened, causing a media frenzy. Topshop reportedly paid Moss £3 million for her work. The collection of fifty designs included clothes, bags, shoes and belts, where prices range from £12 for a vest top to £150 for a cropped leather jacket. Clothes in the collection included skinny jeans, one-shoulder minidresses and T-shirts with the letter K woven into the design. The Topshop range was later released in the United States at the New York chain store Barneys. In a collaboration with Coty, Moss has released four fragrances. In early 2010, it was revealed that she had designed a range of handbags for luxury goods house Longchamp.

Her other endeavours

Alan McGee, Kate Moss, and BP Fallon DJing at Death Disco NY in 2004

Moss appeared on Oasis singles "Don't Go Away" (1998) and "Fade Away" (1994), and on the Be Here Now album (1997), playing tambourine, Johnny Depp playing a guitar. She has appeared in music videos such as "Kowalski" by Primal Scream, "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" by the White Stripes, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John, "Sex with Strangers" by Marianne Faithfull, "Love Don't Bother Me" by Stage Dolls, and "Delia's Gone" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash.

She has also provided vocals for songs by Primal Scream (the 2003 version of "Some Velvet Morning"), Babyshambles ("La Belle et la Bête") and The Lemonheads ("You're a Dirty Robot"). Prior to breaking up with Pete Doherty, Moss co-wrote four songs on Babyshambles' second album Shotter's Nation—"You Talk", "French Dog Blues", "Baddie's Boogie", and "Deft Left Hand". In 1999, Moss played a non-musical role in the British screen comedy Blackadder: Back & Forth, appearing both as Maid Marian and as a fictional Queen of England "who looks good naked". Director and writer Richard Curtis said in the making of video, that they wanted "the best looking woman in England" to play the role.

Moss has also been the subject of portraits by contemporary artists such as Lucian Freud and Chuck Close. In 2005, a painting of Moss by Freud sold for £3.93 million at a Christie's auction. Close has taken a series of daguerreotypes of Moss, which he has also translated into Jacquard tapestry. In October 2010, she appeared on the cover of Bryan Ferry's album Olympia.

In January 2012, having seen a performance by Dutch illusionist Hans Klok on the BBC's The One Show, Moss called fashion designer Stella McCartney and recommended that she book him as one of the attractions at her London Fashion Week show the following month. It was originally planned that Moss, a self-confessed magic fan, would act as Klok's assistant, and she spent several days working with him to rehearse three illusions, a levitation, a sawing in half and a guillotine illusion. However, she was forced to drop out of the show after suffering temporary paralysis of her right arm due to a trapped nerve, and her place was taken by TV presenter and model Alexa Chung. Also in 2012, Moss appeared in the video of George Michael's latest song White Light, inspired by when he contracted pneumonia. Moss performed with Naomi Campbell in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games on 12 August 2012.

Her charity

Moss has been a supporter of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, and in the 1990s featured in one of their target T-shirt campaigns. She also supported War Child. Moss also designed a charm in a necklace for Wallis in 2007 in aid of Cancer Research UK and said "I am happy to give my support to help fund crucial research, as so many lives are affected by this terrible disease".

She has also helped to launch the SamandRuby charity in March 2006. The charity was started to provide funding for the education and shelter of Thai children. The SamandRuby organisation is named after a friend of Moss's, Samantha Archer Fayet, and her 6-month-old daughter Ruby Rose who were killed by the Tsunami while visiting Thailand. Moss also supports the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Hoping Foundation, the Lucie Blackman Trust, Make Poverty History, Comic Relief and Homes of Hope. On 22 November 2006, Moss recorded an appearance in a Little Britain sketch for Comic Relief at the Hammersmith Apollo as a character called Katie Pollard, sister of Vicky Pollard played by Matt Lucas. Moss made a short film with Misery bear for the March 2011 Comic Relief event entitled "Misery Bear's Comic Relief Starring Kate Moss".

Kate Moss - personal life

Kate Moss has a daughter, Lila Grace Moss Hack, born in 2002, with Dazed & Confused editor Jefferson Hack. 

From 1994 to 1998, Moss was romantically involved with American actor Johnny Depp, and they were engaged for a couple of months. Nevertheless, they broke up a few months later.

Moss had a relationship with former Libertines member Pete Doherty, first meeting him at her 31-st birthday party in January 2005. On 11 April 2007, Doherty announced Moss as his fiancée during one of his concerts in London, at which Moss also performed. In July 2007, Moss and Doherty split. She was due to model on the catwalk for John Galliano, but was too distraught with her break-up to participate.

Moss began dating Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills in late 2007 with The Sun reporting on 26 March 2008, that they had become engaged during a trip to Amsterdam, Hince proposing to Moss in bed with a vintage 1920’s ring worth more than £10,000. Moss married Hince on 1 July 2011 at St Peter's Church, Southrop in Gloucestershire; she wore a dress by John Galliano.

Drug use allegations

On 15 September 2005, the Daily Mirror ran front page and inside photos that seemed to show Moss snorting several lines of a white powder that was presumed to be cocaine at a Babyshambles recording session. It was also reported that Moss snorted five lines in 40 minutes. It has been alleged by Babyshambles' singer Pete Doherty that James Mullord, his former manager, sold the photos to the newspaper for more than £150,000 and spent the money on heroin.

On 20 September 2005, the Swedish fashion retailer H&M, which had intended to feature her in a campaign of their autumn clothes range designed by Stella McCartney, announced it was dropping Moss after the drug allegations. The contract was reportedly worth £4 million a year. A day later, Chanel announced that it would not be renewing its contract with Moss, which was set to expire that October, although the company said that its decision had nothing to do with the drug scandal. Burberry also decided to drop Moss's campaign with them. Moss quickly issued an apology, though she stopped short of admitting drug use.

Moss continued to appear in major ad campaigns during this period for Dior. She was on the cover of the November 2005 W and also appeared inside in a multi-page fashion shoot. She was also defended by designer Alexander McQueen, who, during his walk-out after a fashion show, wore a t-shirt saying "We love you Kate". Artist Stella Vine also publicly supported Moss, and paintings by Vine of the model, painted during the scandal, were exhibited and reproduced in the press.

In November 2005, Moss ended her relationship with Doherty soon after he checked himself out of Meadows Clinic in Arizona, failing to complete a programme for drug rehabilitation. Moss herself underwent successful treatment there in October and had urged Doherty to seek the same treatment himself. Doherty claims that their separation involved other issues, telling The Sun that Moss left him because, "I can’t buy her diamonds." On 5 January 2006, the Metropolitan Police asked Moss to return from the US to Britain to answer questions about the September 2005 cocaine scandal. The following day, the Daily Mirror reported that Moss would return to Britain and face arrest for allegations of cocaine usage. She was interviewed by police in London on 31 January 2006, with her solicitor present, but reportedly made no admissions, and she was not arrested (photographs of alleged drug-taking are not admissible evidence in English courts). On 16 June 2006, British police finally dropped the charges for lack of evidence. Ultimately, Moss was cleared of all charges and resumed her modelling career. Criticism of Moss has continued, and her career revival has been viewed as a sign of moral and cultural decline by critics such as Peter Hitchens.

Cultural depictions

A £1.5m ($2.8m) 18 carat gold statue was made of Moss in 2008 as part of a British Museum exhibition. Entitled Siren, the 50 kg (110 lb) hollow statue was made by Marc Quinn, who described Moss as "the ideal beauty of the moment". The statue is said to be the largest gold statue to be created since the era of Ancient Egypt. Quinn had previously unveiled a painted-bronze, life-size sculpture of Moss in a contorted yoga pose, titled Sphinx.

The cello rock group Rasputina released a song entitled Kate Moss off their 1996 album Thanks for the Ether. A part spoken word piece, part orchestral it imagines Moss attempting to pontificate an intellectual platform in the context of epistemology. The piece highlights the pseudo-intellectualism that was prevalent in the fashion and music world during the early and mid 1990s when punk and indie music served as a major commercial interest point.

The photocall at the wedding 

of 

Kate Moss to Jamie Hince

- Video -

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