Kate Moss

Katherine Moss, (born 16 January 1974) is an English supermodel who is most famous for her waifish figure, high profile relationships and iconic advertising campaigns.

Moss was born in Addiscombe, London Borough of Croydon, England. Kate attended Ridgeway Primary School, then Riddlesdown High School but she was not noted for her academic success. According to Vermorel's book "Addicted to Love: Kate Moss" she gained one C (in Science) and all the rest were Ds, Es, and Fs at GCSE level. However, she did excel at sports. She was discovered at the age of 14 by Sarah Doukas (the founder of Storm Model Agency) in 1988, at JFK Airport in New York City, after a vacation in the Bahamas. Corinne Day shot black and white photographs of Kate for The Face magazine when she was 15. Moss then went on to become the anti-supermodel of the 1990s in contrast to the supermodels at the time, such as Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell. This began with her first big cover and photoshoot in British magazine, The Face.

She ushered in the waif look in 1993 (which prompted much speculation over her weight) with a highly publicised campaign for Calvin Klein, including posing nude in ads for its perfume brand, Obsession. Some have even blamed her for popularizing the dangerous "heroin chic" look. Storm Model Agency lists Moss as being 173 cm (5' 8") but it is widely known that she is shorter than that, around 5' 7". Twiggy, a famous model during the 1960s who is 5' 6", wrote in her autobiography that she and Moss are about the same height.

Despite this apparent disadvantage, Moss charmed the fashion industry and has walked/campaigned for such elite houses as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Chanel, Missoni, and David Yurman. Now in her 30s, Moss is still working and has become a "supermodel" in her own right.

She has a daughter, Lila Grace, born on 29 September 2002, with Dazed & Confused editor Jefferson Hack.

In September 2005, after she was filmed while allegedly cutting and inhaling cocaine, several of her sponsors disassociated themselves. However, led by Virgin, work has rapidly returned. In May of 2006, Maxim magazine named her #24 in its annual Hot 100 issue.

Notable involvements
Moss has had campaigns with major Italian, French, New York, and British designers including Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, Burberry, 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 Vogue 23 times and has been featured on the cover of 17 issues of W, including one issue with nine different covers featuring the model. W even names Moss its muse (September 2003 issue). She has worked with the most well-known photographers in the fashion industry today, such as Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein, and Juergen Teller, and is a Peter L "trained" model. She won the prestigious Vogue/CFDA award from the Fashion Designers of America in July 2005 as Fashion Inspiration. The haute couture dress she wore to the award ceremoney was from the Christian Dior fall 2005 haute couture and would inspire John Galliano to create an entire collection based around the nude and black lace dress in Dior's spring 2006 ready-to-wear.

In 1997, Kate: The Kate Moss Book was published. The book is a compilation of photos Moss herself had selected to represent her career in front of the camera.

Moss has appeared in music videos like "Kowalski" by Primal Scream, "I Just Don't Know What to do with Myself" by the White Stripes and "Delia's Gone" by Johnny Cash. She also provided vocals for songs by Primal Scream (the 2003 version of "Some Velvet Morning") and Babyshambles. She has worked with various artists and sculptors including artist and photographer Chuck Close.

In March 2003, Moss did a lengthy interview with website Showstudio. This was notable as Moss almost never gives interviews. She replied to the topic of the media singling her out on the debate on body image with: "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 February 2005, a nude portrait by Lucian Freud of Moss while she was pregnant sold for £3.93 million. Moss planned and posed for the portrait as her version of the Madonna as a full frontal nude.

In 2006, Sphinx, a sculpture of Moss in a complicated yoga position was unveiled by controversial British sculptor Marc Quinn. The pose itself was modelled by a more experienced woman, though the body, hands, and feet are cast in Moss' exact measurements. Quinn's representation of Moss is meant to show "a mirror of ourselves, a knotted Venus of our age."

April 2005 saw the launch of the Rimmel London mascara ad featuring a leather clad Kate Moss riding a motorbike through London.

Moss has led ads by Roberto Cavalli; and in the February issue of W is a 20 page main fashion shoot depicting her as Greek goddess shot in St. Barts while on vacation. She is the cover of the 6 March edition of W and in a 15 page fashion shoot as Marilyn Monroe in the April issue of W.

In March 2006, the women's lifestyle magazine Female First reported Kate Moss as adopting Buddhism after briefly reading about its philosophy during rehab to get through an alleged drug addiction. According to Britain's Grazia Magazine, she is contemplating on doing charity or volunteer work to achieve good karma.

As of April 2006, camera company Nikon have also signed Moss to be the new face of their new Coolpix S6 digital camera, where the photoshoot features Moss in a state of undress, with nothing but the camera.

Profiles

Media and Entertainment Babes

Virgin

Celebrities

Fashion

Media Man Australia does not represent Kate Moss