Kate Moss, model
Desert Island Discs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0019jv2
Kate Moss
came to fame in the 1990s, and her distinctive look went on to embody the era
of Cool Britannia. She has appeared on the cover of hundreds of magazines and
starred in campaigns for many of the top fashion houses. She has made cameos on
film and television and inspired artists including Lucian Freud, Tracey Emin
and Marc Quinn.
Kate was
born in Croydon in 1974. When she was 14, she was spotted at JFK airport by
Sarah Doukas who signed her to her modelling agency. Two years later Kate was
on the cover of the style magazine the Face – one of a series of photographs
shot on Camber Sands by Corinne Day. The images were raw and natural and Kate’s
slight, delicate build, in stark contrast to the curvaceous supermodel
silhouette that had defined the decade, heralded a new era in modelling.
Kate moved
on to high profile campaigns for the designers Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs. In
1993 she appeared on the cover of British Vogue for the first time. Later her
waif-like figure attracted criticism from some commentators who thought some of
her photographs glamorised thinness.
In 2013
Kate received a Special Recognition award at the British Fashion Awards,
acknowledging her 25-year contribution to fashion. Kate set up her own talent
agency in 2016 and one of the agency’s first signings was her daughter Lila.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley
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Kate Moss ‘sick and angry’ at being made a
scapegoat for taking cocaine
The British supermodel talks candidly on BBC radio’s
Desert Island Discs about her drug use, defending Johnny Depp and being
‘objectified and scared’
Vanessa
Thorpe
Sun 24 Jul
2022 06.30 BST
Kate Moss,
one of the world’s most famous models, has spoken of her anger at the
condemnation she received after publication of photographs of her taking
cocaine in 2005. She took the blame, she believes, for the widespread
acceptability of drug-taking in her circle.
“I felt
sick and was quite angry,” the British supermodel revealed on Sunday in a rare
radio interview, “because everybody I knew took drugs. So for them to focus on
me, and to try to take my daughter away, I thought was really hypocritical.”
Although
Moss was not charged for the offence, and she kept her daughter, Lila, she lost
lucrative contracts with several top brands and later said “sorry” formally in
a public statement. “I had to apologise really, if people were looking up to
me,” she told Lauren Laverne, host of BBC Radio 4’s long-running Desert Island
Discs programme.
For 30
years, Moss, 48, has represented the summit of British cool. But the woman
whose motto “never complain, never explain” was borrowed from her former
boyfriend, Johnny Depp, used the interview to speak out about the anxiety that
crippled her teenage modelling years and of the abuse and mistreatment she
suffered in the industry.
Moss also
explained her decision to speak up for Depp in his recent American libel case
against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, and talks about defending her old friend, the
British fashion designer John Galliano, who was found guilty of racist abuse in
2011.
“I believe
in the truth and I believe in fairness and justice,” she said. Her appearance
at Depp’s trial was prompted by a wish to set the record straight. “I know the
truth about Johnny,” Moss said. “I know he never kicked me down the stairs. I
had to say that truth.”
The urge to
stand by Galliano came from her belief that he is “not a bad person – he had an
alcohol problem and people turn.”
“People
aren’t themselves when they drink,” suggested Moss, “and they say things that
they would never say when they were sober.”
At 14 years
old, Moss was approached on an aeroplane journey by the owner of the Storm
modelling agency, but she didn’t imagine herself as a model. “I thought it was
vain,” Moss said.
The start
of her career in 1988 was traumatic and “a hard slog”, she recalled. She had to
travel across cities alone for photographing castings. At 15, she had the
“horrible experience” of being asked to take off her top for a bra catalogue
shoot. “I was really shy then about my body, and I could feel there was
something wrong, so I got my stuff and I ran away.”
She says
the experience “sharpened her instincts” – “I can tell a wrong ’un a mile
away.”
Her
16-year-old face was suddenly in international demand after a photographic
session for The Face magazine on Camber Sands in Sussex with her photographer
friend, the late Corinne Day.
Moss admits
crying “a lot” about being naked. “She [Day] would say, ‘If you don’t take your
top off, I am not going to book you for Elle. It is painful. I loved her, she
was my best friend, but she was a tricky person. But the pictures are amazing,
so she got what she wanted and I suffered for them, but in the end they did me
a world of good really. They changed my career.”
The
American designer Calvin Klein chose Moss for a 1992 underwear campaign as a
result, but her memories of this job, posing with actor Mark Wahlberg in New
York, are “not good”. She took Valium for her anxiety to get out of bed for
work.
Topless
again, Moss felt “objectified and vulnerable and scared”, she told Laverne,
adding: “They played on my vulnerability. Calvin loved that.”
Her friend
Day was responsible for the controversial images taken for Vogue magazine a
year later, which were decried for promoting “heroin chic”. Pictured in her own
flat, the ever-slim Moss was shown in underwear. “I was a scapegoat for a lot
of people’s problems,” Moss said. “I was never anorexic. I never have been. I
had never taken heroin. I was thin because I didn’t get fed at shoots or in
shows and I’d always been thin.”
A quote
often attributed to Moss, that “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, was
not her own coinage, she said. It came from a note stuck to the fridge door in
a flat, designed to dissuade a dieting friend from snacking.
Born in
1974 to a travel agent father, Peter, and “glamorous” mother, Linda, who worked
part-time in a bar, Moss said she suspects she was quite lonely. Her looks were
not remarked on at home, and her mother was surprised when modelling work came
her daughter’s way.
Her unruly
“headstrong” teenage behaviour worsened, Moss remembers, once her parents split
up: “I started smoking spliff and I hung out with older boys,” she says,
confessing she was full of sadness. “Yes, I was heartbroken ... it was all a
bit dark.”
Moss set up
her own modelling agency in 2016, signing up her own daughter early on. “I’ve
said to her, ‘You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. If you don’t
want to do this shoot, if you don’t feel comfortable, if you don’t want to
model, don’t do it.’ I take care of my models. I make sure they’re with agents
at shoots so when they’re being taken advantage of, someone is there to say, ‘I
don’t think that’s appropriate’.”
Moss has
moved her main home to her Cotswolds country house and reveals she has become
obsessed with gardening. Partying, she says, is “boring to me now”, adding,
“I’m not into being out of control any more.”
'He said "take your bra off"... I was
15': Supermodel Kate Moss reveals in unflinching detail how she fled a
photoshoot in tears after being targeted by fashion industry predator as a
teenager
Kate Moss tells Desert Island Discs that she was
targeted by predators as a teen
At 15, the young model
was forced to run after being asked to remove a bra
Now 48, she says she was left in tears by
photographers looking for topless pics
By CHRIS
HASTINGS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 00:01,
24 July 2022 | UPDATED: 00:45, 24 July 2022
As the
queen of the catwalk for three decades, interview-shy Kate Moss has usually
adopted the Queen’s famous unofficial motto: ‘Never complain, never explain.’
But in a
candid interview on Desert Island Discs today, the supermodel reveals the toxic
truth about exploitation in the fashion industry and how, as a young teenager,
she was targeted by sexual predators.
Now 48, she
recalls being reduced to tears by photographers who pressured her to go
topless. At 15, the self-conscious teenager was even forced to flee one session
when she was asked to remove her bra.
In a candid
interview on Desert Island Discs today, the Kate Moss, pictured, reveals the
toxic truth about exploitation in the fashion industry and how, as a young
teenager, she was targeted by sexual predators. Pictured in 1993
In a candid
interview on Desert Island Discs today, the Kate Moss, pictured, reveals the
toxic truth about exploitation in the fashion industry and how, as a young
teenager, she was targeted by sexual predators. Pictured in 1993
‘I had a
horrible experience for a bra catalogue,’ she tells the BBC Radio 4 programme.
‘I was only 15 probably and he said, “Take your top off”, and I took my top
off. And I was really shy then about my body.
‘And he
said, “Take your bra off”, and I could feel there was something wrong so I got
my stuff and I ran away. I think it sharpened my instincts. I can tell a wrong
’un a mile away.’
Teenaged
Kate, who signed to the Storm modelling agency in 1988 at the age of 14, would
travel across London unaccompanied, completing up to eight modelling
assignments a day.
During the
radio show, she speaks about the shoot in 1990 that made her famous – but
admits that revisiting the memory remains ‘painful’.
During the
radio show, she speaks about the shoot in 1990 that made her famous. Pictured
during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant this year
During the
radio show, she speaks about the shoot in 1990 that made her famous. Pictured
during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant this year
The late
photographer Corinne Day, with whom Moss often worked, shot a series of
photographs for The Face magazine on the beach at Camber Sands, East Sussex,
when she was 16.
Moss says:
‘That scrunched up nose that is on the cover, she would say, “Snort like a pig”
to get that picture. And I would be like, “I don’t want to snort like a pig”,
and she would be like, “Snort like a pig, that’s when it looks good”.’
The model
recalls how she had ‘cried a lot’ during the shoot because she was
uncomfortable about being ‘naked’, adding: ‘I didn’t want to take my top off.
‘I was
really, really self-conscious about my body and she would say, “If you don’t
take your top off I am not going to book you for Elle”, and I would cry. It is painful
because she was my best friend and I really loved her – but she was a very
tricky person to work with.
‘But... the
pictures are amazing so she got what she wanted and I suffered for them, but in
the end they did me a world of good, really. They did change my career.’
Moss also
recalls shooting an underwear campaign for Calvin Klein in 1992 with Hollywood
actor Mark Wahlberg, known at the time as Marky Mark. It was her first major
advertising campaign but the then 17-year-old had to take Valium to ease her
anxiety, caused by the prospect of going topless.
Asked by
presenter Lauren Laverne if she felt objectified during the campaign, Moss
replies: ‘Yes completely, and vulnerable and scared. I think they played on my
vulnerability, and I was quite young and innocent, so Calvin loved that.’
Moss
emerged from these early challenges to become one of the most iconic and
powerful figures in international fashion, boasting an inner circle that
includes some of the world’s biggest celebrities.
But the
highs have been accompanied by lows and Moss speaks frankly about her battles
with drink and drugs which almost derailed her career. She recalls her wild
youth growing up in Croydon, South London, when she first went off the rails at
13 after her parents split.
She also
reflects on the drugs scandal which threatened to destroy her career in 2005.
She temporarily lost several lucrative contracts when a national newspaper
published photos which appeared to show her taking cocaine
She also
reflects on the drugs scandal which threatened to destroy her career in 2005.
She temporarily lost several lucrative contracts when a national newspaper
published photos which appeared to show her taking cocaine
‘I started
smoking spliffs and hanging with people a lot older than me, a lot of older
boys that kind of took me under their wing and protected me,’ she says.
‘They would
take me to London on the train. I would get changed from my school uniform into
clothes and go to Fred’s [a bar in Soho]. I didn’t even like the taste of
alcohol.
‘I would
drink Long Island Ice Teas because it didn’t taste of alcohol, but then of
course it is a strong drink.’
She also
reflects on the drugs scandal which threatened to destroy her career in 2005.
She temporarily lost several lucrative contracts when a national newspaper
published photos which appeared to show her taking cocaine.
Her career
resumed, however, when police decided there was not enough evidence to take
action.
‘I felt
sick and was quite angry because everybody I knew took drugs so for them to
focus on me and to try and take my daughter away, I thought was really
hypocritical,’ she says.
The star
also rejects the idea that she and Day deliberately created the hugely
controversial look dubbed ‘heroin chic’ when they collaborated again on a shoot
at the model’s home for Vogue in 1993.
‘I think I
was a scapegoat for a lot of people’s problems,’ she says. ‘I was never
anorexic, I never have been. I had never taken heroin.
‘I was thin
because I didn’t get fed at shoots or in shows and I had always been thin. It
was a fashion shoot. It was shot at my flat and that is how I could afford to
live at the time.
‘And I
think it was a shock because I wasn’t voluptuous and I was just a normal girl.
I wasn’t a glamazon model, and that shocked them.’
Despite
being one of the world’s most photographed women, Moss says she hates having
her picture taken outside the workplace. Pictured in the early 1990's
Despite
being one of the world’s most photographed women, Moss says she hates having
her picture taken outside the workplace. Pictured in the early 1990's
Despite
being one of the world’s most photographed women, Moss says she hates having
her picture taken outside the workplace.
‘I am
actually really shy in front of the camera. I don’t like having my picture
taken when it’s not at work,’ she says. ‘I don’t like having selfies or
snapshots. I find it difficult to be myself in front of a camera. I find it
much easier to be somebody else.’
She has now
set up her own model agency, which has on its books her 19-year-old daughter,
Lila.
Moss, who
recently sold her North London home to move to the Cotswolds, says she has
ditched her ‘boring’ hedonistic lifestyle and discovered a new passion that she
can share with her mother Linda.
‘I am
obsessed with gardening,’ she says. ‘I have got a membership to the garden
centre, and I go with my mum and we have the best time.’
Her musical
choices for the show include George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord, Harvest Moon by
Neil Young and a specially remixed version of Back To Life by Soul II Soul
featuring Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir.
The Little
Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is her book of choice and a cashmere blanket
is her luxury item.
Desert Island Discs is on today at 11.15am and will be
repeated on Friday at 9am.
Kate Moss reveals the truth about Johnny Depp — and
her Freud tattoo — in Desert Island Discs
Lucian
Freud left an indelible mark on Kate Moss when he inked a tattoo on her thigh
while she was sitting for a portrait.
Recalling
their friendship, she says that the celebrated artist, who died in 2011 aged
88, originally suggested a chicken upside down in a bucket for a design, but
they settled on a more traditional image.
She says:
‘He gave me a bottle of really good Rothschild wine, and he got out his etching
needle and scraped into my thigh a flock of birds which now look like varicose
veins. But I am still probably the only living person with a Lucian Freud on my
thigh.’
Lucian Freud left an indelible mark on Kate Moss when
he inked a tattoo on her thigh while she was sitting for a portrait
Kate Moss
also caused a sensation earlier this year when she gave video evidence in
support of ex boyfriend Johnny Depp in his libel trial against Amber Heard, who
had mentioned a rumour that the model had been pushed down the stairs by the
actor when they were dating
Kate Moss
also caused a sensation earlier this year when she gave video evidence in
support of ex boyfriend Johnny Depp in his libel trial against Amber Heard, who
had mentioned a rumour that the model had been pushed down the stairs by the
actor when they were dating
For Freud’s
acclaimed 2002 portrait, Moss posed nude while heavily pregnant with daughter
Lila. The painting took around nine months to complete and was later sold to an
anonymous bidder for £3.9 million.
Moss prides
herself on her loyalty to friends. In 2011, she publicly defended fashion
designer John Galliano when he was found guilty by a French court of making
antisemitic comments.
She also
caused a sensation earlier this year when she gave video evidence in support of
ex boyfriend Johnny Depp in his libel trial against Amber Heard, who had
mentioned a rumour that the model had been pushed down the stairs by the actor
when they were dating.
Explaining
her stance, Moss says: ‘I believe in the truth, and I believe in fairness and
justice. I know that John Galliano is not a bad person – he had an alcohol
problem and people turn. People aren’t themselves when they drink, and they say
things that they would never say if they were sober.’
She adds:
‘I know the truth about Johnny [Depp]. I know he never kicked me down the
stairs. I had to say that truth.’
Depp, who
was in a relationship with Moss between 1994 and 1998, won the lawsuit against
his ex wife Heard last month.
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