Queen of cool

EVERY work of art starts with a blank canvas waiting for its muse. Sometimes the muse is just waiting to be found, boarding a flight to London from JFK, for example. Such was the case of fashion deity Kate Moss, who at 14-years-old was scouted by Storm Models founder Sarah Doukas en route from a family trip to Barbados. Little would the Croydon schoolgirl know that in her waifish 5” 7.5’ frame and gap-toothed smile lay the makings of the world’s next supermodel, the face of a new generation and the poster girl for its attendant woes.

With more than 25 years of top-flight modelling under her skinny belt, Moss has shed her rolling stone image for a settled life in North London with rocker husband Jamie Hince, daughter Lila Grace and their dog Archie. That’s not to say she’s jacked in the high life for Highgate; quite the contrary. If anyone knows how to stay relevant (without seemingly trying) it’s Moss. Given her distaste for social media and tight-lipped allure, this is no mean feat. So just how does she manage to keep us all in her thrall?

Put simply, she evolves. In an industry predicated on newness and defined by trends, Moss manages to avoid being pigeonholed, or worse, dated. From grunge Kate to boho Kate, rock Kate to festival Kate and, now, yummy mummy Kate; if Moss were a doll, Barbie would have some serious competition. What’s more, she’s managed to achieve this all the while looking as if she fell fabulously out of bed. We want to hate her but we can’t — she’s just too cool.

“She’s a bit like the bold girl in class you really want to be friends with but were too afraid to,” says stylist Ingrid Hoey. Indeed, it’s this fearlessness that has caused the model to be celebrated and demonised in equal measure. As with most honours (dubious or otherwise) there’s always a price to be paid and Moss’ title bears no exception. Propelled to fame at age 16 in a topless cover shoot by Corinne Day for the Face magazine, Moss became the iconoclast for fashion’s new order. Her meagre figure and slightly off-kilter looks typified an incipient grunge culture and new style of photography — dirty realism.

In a recent and rare interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Moss describes how she was coerced into stripping off, saying “They were like: if you don’t do it, then we’re not going to book you again. So I’d lock myself in the toilet and cry and then come out and do it.” Similarly, the infamous Calvin Klein ads shot by Herb Ritts in 1993, in which a topless Kate straddled Mark Wahlberg, led to the model’s self-confessed nervous breakdown. Such frank revelations are all the more poignant given the media backlash Moss endured for her bony physique — one which led to accusations of anorexia and of promoting fashion’s heroin chic trend.

During that time however, she remained stoic and resilient — qualities that clearly stood her in good stead given the industry’s then lack of pastoral care. Pundits blamed her for everything from the fascist popularity of skinny jeans to the damaging size 0 culture promoted in glossy magazines and on red carpets. During that time however, she never pointed the finger, even if she did shoot herself in the foot. Her infamous 2009 quip to Woman’s Wear Daily: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” can’t have helped matters but, then again, Moss is that ‘bold girl’ stoking the fires of political correctness with her signature ciggie, even if she winds up getting burned.

Speaking of which, no scandal quite had the same impact as the Daily Mirror exposé in July 2005 which showed the model allegedly snorting a cocaine-like substance at a Babyshambles recording session. Having lost contracts with H&M, Chanel and Burberry, Moss experienced an unanticipated comeback, bagging lucrative contracts including Rimmel, Agent Provocateur and Virgin Mobile. What exactly did Moss do right? Going to rehab? Ditching Babyshambles boyfriend Pete Doherty? Perhaps. Or maybe it’s her refusal to commandeer public sympathy with a sob story that has kept her on the right side of wrong. In an era where Twitter and Facebook act as a modern confessional, mystery is a rarefied commodity. Ironically known for baring all, Moss’ refusal to bare her soul has somewhat tethered her to a rather fickle public.

This Dietrich-like reticence has also flicked the dimmer switch on her high-profile love life: from her four-year relationship with actor Johnny Depp to that with Dazed & Confused editor Jefferson Hack, father to ten-year-old daughter Lila Grace; to the two-year liaison with troubled singer Pete Doherty to her recent marriage to The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince.

“With Kate, there’s a certain allure about her because she doesn’t sell her soul,” adds Hoey. “You know what she wants you to know which is very refreshing nowadays.”

This same ‘my way or the highway’ mantra has also trickled down into her fashion choices making her one of the most referenced contemporary style icons. The Kate Effect has spawned an appetite for cut-off denim shorts, skinny jeans, tux jackets, Alexander McQueen’s skull scarves, waistcoats, ballet flats and festival wear. She was the first to rock Hunter wellies and about the only human being who can make Ugg boots look good. “It’s the way she puts looks together and makes the most boring of outfits look effortless,” says Siopaella owner Ella De Guzman. Moss doesn’t seem to curry favour with anyone, preferring to do things on her own terms.

And the proof is in the profit margins. Last year, the 38-year old (39 on Jan 16) was ranked second on the Forbes top-earning models list, earning an estimated $9.2 million in one year alone. From her lucrative design collaborations with Longchamp and Topshop (the latter reportedly boosting the high street chain’s sales by a staggering 10%) to her ongoing campaigns with Rimmel, Mango and Coty, Kate Moss is fashion’s golden girl bar none. She might be a blank canvas but she’s undeniably also the artist.