Sunday, July 19, 2009

Katherine "Kate" Ann Moss

Born on 16 January 1974
Katherine "Kate" Ann Moss is an English model. She has appeared on over 300 magazine covers. She is known for her waifish figure, uncommonly short height for a fashion model, and appearances in many advertising campaigns. She is also notorious for her high-profile relationships and party lifestyle. In 2007, she came 2nd on the Forbes top 15 richest supermodels list, estimated to have earned $9 million in one year.


Moss 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 Jamaica. Moss's career began when Corinne Day shot black-and-white photographs of her, styled by Melanie Ward, for British magazine The Face when she was 15, in a photo shoot titled "The Third Summer of Love". Moss then went on to become the "anti-supermodel" of the 1990s in contrast to the "supermodels" of the moment, such as Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell, who were known for their curvaceous and tall figures.

In July 2007, earning an estimated total of $9 million in the past 12 months, Forbes magazine named her second on the list of the World's 15 top-earning supermodels

Moss ushered in the waif 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'?" Moss found success in the industry despite being unusually short for a fashion model and has worked for many elite fashion lines.

In addition to being known for her modelling work, Kate Moss is also an international fashion icon. She has garnered 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. She appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair's September 2006 style issue. In the year of 2005–2006, her style was influenced by Rock and Roll. Due to her reputation, she is credited for setting numerous trends. 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, as well as recently bringing high-waisted styles and waist-cinching belts back into popularity.

Moss 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 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") and Babyshambles. Her vocals are featured on the Babyshambles song "La Belle et la Bête", singing the line "Is she more beautiful than me?". 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".

On 1 May 2007, a collection of clothes purported to be designed by Moss exclusively for the Topshop chain were launched across the UK in the chain's 225 stores. These and all future "Kate Moss" designs are in fact creations by in-house Arcadia designers all signed to confidentiality agreements. 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 has reportedly paid Moss £3 million for her work which consists of choosing designs and then modelling them, as well as allowing her name to be used on the garments The collection of fifty designs includes 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 include skinny jeans, one-shoulder mini dresses and T-shirts]with the letter K woven in to the design. However, purchases were limited to five items per shopper to prevent the clothes appearing on eBay, and customers were only allowed to try on eight garments in the shop. Despite these efforts, the day after the launch saw hundreds of items up for sale on eBay. Although bulk buying is restricted the collection is not a limited edition and the range will remain in stores for an indefinite period.

Charity work
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 (charity). 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 which her close friend Sadie Frost also supports.

Kate donated $50,000 to Naomi Campbell’s Fashion For Relief fundraiser in 2007.

on being self-conscious about being flat-chested
I was like, 'Oh no, I don't want to be different. I want to have big t*ts. I want to look like Cindy Crawford.' (Corinne Day) would make me take off my top, and I would cry. After five years of taking off your top you get used to it, and you're not self-conscious anymore. You're not conscious about your flaws - bow-legged, crooked teeth.

on branching out to design fashion for UK chain Topshop
Modeling can be a bit brain damaging. Starting my own brand was what I needed to do. I only model if there are such good jobs that you don't want to say no to. All that dressing up makes me say, "What do I want to wear?" and, "What do I want to do with Topshop?" It all kind of leads into the other things.

on the paparazzi taking pictures
There are degrees of privacy. For instance, if I'm taking my daughter Lila to school, that's not OK. Once I was walking from The Mercer (hotel) in New York - because otherwise I don't walk anywhere - and this woman paparazzo who was following me fell over a fire hydrant and her whole tooth went through her lip. I leant over her, saying, 'Are you all right?' and she was still taking pictures. I was, 'You know what? You are sick in the head.' And she was really surprised that I had stopped. Like I was going to leave her bleeding.

on developing her own perfume
It's something I've thought about for a long time. When I put it on I want to feel fresh and light and as the day goes on I want to feel sexier.

# Moss was voted 8th in Celebrity Sleuth's "25 Sexiest Women of 2004",
# 8th in Maxim's "50 Sexiest Women of 1999"
# Kate won "Model of the Year" at the VH1 Fashion Awards in 1996.
# 22nd in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women of 1995".
# Arena named her as their Sexiest Woman in their 150th issue.
# 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 1348th richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £40 million.
# Kate was ranked #9 in Glamour's "The 50 Most Glamorous Women of 2008."
# In 2008, Kate was ranked first in the Most Attractive Women who have modeled for the underwear brand Agent Provocateur.
# Kate has been named the face of 2007’s “Face Of Fashion” exhibit at London’s National Portrait Gallery.
# Kate ranked at #7 on a countdown of the Ten Most Beautiful English Women.
# In 2005, Kate was dubbed "Cocaine Kate" because of the scandal.
# In February 2005, Kate's naked portrait, painted by Lucien Freud, was sold for 3.9 million pounds ($7.2 million American) by Christie's auction in London.
# In June 2005, Kate posed in the nude to raise funds for Elton John's Aids charity.

First Name: Kate
Last Name: Moss
Nationality: British (English)
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5'7.5" ; 172cm
Measurements: (US) 34-23-35 ;
(EU) 86.5-58-89
Dress Size: (US) 4 ; (EU) 34
Shoe Size: (US) 7 ; (EU) 39
Mother agency: Storm Models
Agencies:
  • D Management Group
  • Marilyn Agency - Paris
  • IMG Models - New York

Fashion Shows:

Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 1994
{Blumarine, Chanel, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Javier Larrainzar, John Galliano, Martine Sitbon, Prada, Vivienne Westwood}
Ready to wear - Autumn/Winter 1997
{Calvin Klein, Cerruti 1881, Chanel, Chloé, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Helmut Lang, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Martine Sitbon, Versus}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 1998
{Antonio Berardi, Alexander McQueen, Bella Freud, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Clements Ribeiro, Cerruti 1881, Chanel, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gianni Versace, Givenchy, Helmut Lang, John Galliano, Jil Sander, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lainey Keogh, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Narciso Rodriguez, Prada, Rifat Ozbek, Stephen Sprouse, Versus, Yohji Yamamoto}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 1999
{Calvin Klein}
Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 1999
{Gianni Versace}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 2000
{Marc Jacobs, Versus}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 2001
{Balenciaga, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 2004
{Alexander McQueen, Burberry}

Kate is/was the spokesmodel for:
Sephora.com
Chanel
narciso rodriguez
Cerruti 1881
Banana Republic
Versace
Yves Saint Laurent
Gucci
Louis Vuitton
Burberry
Celine

Gold statue
In 2008, it was reported that a £1.5m ($2.8m) 100% gold statue had been made of supermodel Kate Moss 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.

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