Celebrating her birthday earlier this month, Kate the Great has pulled of endless decades of glamour and style. It’s hard to believe its possible to look this good at forty, but who better to pull it off then Kate Moss herself.
Discovered by Sarah Doukas, in JFK, New York, Moss signed with Storm management and was first recognised for her infamous black and white photographs shot by Corrine Day.
At 18, Moss became the face of Calvin Klein, fronting his underwear campaign with Mark Wahlberg. Much to the controversy of a teenager exposing herself, she went on to pose nude for the CK fragrance Obsession, creating the fad of the ‘waif’.
With her first appearance in British Vogue in January, Moss also landed the cover of Allure magazine in 1993, where she was placed in between Patricia Hartmann And Jenny Brunt, whom were all nude. She had started to be seen as the next Twiggy, only more modernised and fashion forward.
With her ‘anti supermodel’ attitude and five foot seven frame,Moss created a revolution among supermodels. With close friends Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington, she lived in between NYC and Paris while working. Its said to be that this beautiful trio had all taught each other different things in life, while Moss learnt mostly what it was like to be an independent woman.
It didn’t take long before Kate’s fate as an international grunge icon was seen globally while being photographed by all the majors such as, Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein, Juergen Teller, and Peter Lindbergh. Being described as ‘dirty realism’, every major designer and editor has wanted a piece of Moss with only the best succeeding.
Between sex, drugs and Johnny Depp, Moss told Vanity Fair that there is nobody that’s ever been able to take care of her. They were the power couple of the nineties however, revealed that the intense romance left her with tears for years.
In 2002, Moss was reported to be expecting her now daughter Lila Grace, with then-partner, Jefferson Hack. With a lot of talk of her rehab stunt, everyone was still intrigued to see the heroin chic supermodel become a mum. Good friend Lucian Freud had produced a near life size portrait titled ‘The Naked Portrait’ of Moss reclining on a bed which was sold for £17.2million in New Yorks auction house, Christies.
Another great publicity stunt by Alexander McQueen in 2006 stirred up fashion reviews again when Moss skipped out on Paris Fashion week and appeared as a hologram instead.
In 2007 she launched her first collection for Topshop under the ‘Kate Moss for Topshop label’, featuring pieces inspired by her own style. Claiming the retailers copied everything she wore anyway, she put forward that she helps them duplicate her style. Who is going to say no to Kate Moss?
After four years with Jamie Hince, the man who is known as making love with sounds, met her at the end of the aisle in which she strolled down with a floor length, cream, beaded gown designed by John Galliano.
A style icon for the generations past and the generation to come, Moss defies the gravity of age. Far from dilapidated, the fashion world does not see this muse slowing down anytime soon. Forty years of Moss has been a journey of religious style, heartbreaking romances, and a petite little girl who created the everlasting and recycled heroin chic trend.
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