Thursday, June 2, 2011

A face in the life of Kate Moss: The coarsening effect of drink, drugs and non-stop partying

Serene, poised and with the hint of a shy smile — Kate Moss was barely recognisable when the Mail published pictures of her yesterday as a sweet 17-year-old posing for a bridal magazine.
Twenty years on, and the wear and tear of her notorious lifestyle has taken its toll.
Here, we look back at Kate’s 20-year career and chart the decline of a once-great beauty.
Kate Moss as she appears in July/August 1991 issues of Brides magazine
1992: Moss is taking the fashion world by storm
1991: Fresh-faced and wide-eyed, a teenage girl from Croydon has been talent-spotted by Storm model agency boss Sarah Doukas while standing in a check-in queue at JFK Airport in New York.

It’s hard to believe that back then it was her peaches-and-cream complexion and wholesome looks that used to win her work such as this shoot in Brides magazine.
1992: The girl with the skinny body and squeaky voice is taking the fashion world by storm, securing fashion spreads in Harpers & Queen and Vanity Fair.
But the first taste of the controversy that will dog her career comes when she appears topless in an advert for Calvin Klein.
Kate Moss on the cover of Vogue March 1993
Moss at a Calvin Klein underwear promotion in 1994
1993: Kate’s painfully thin body, part of the so-called ‘heroin chic’ trend, is giving cause for concern.

Alongside fellow models Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, her skinniness is plain to see.
Even former U.S. President Bill Clinton criticises the look. But it doesn’t stop Vogue making the 19-year-old one of its youngest-ever faces on its cover.
1994: Moss mania has stormed the fashion world — and there is no stopping Kate.
She’s a regular on the club scene, but is still young enough for all of those late nights not to take their toll.
Here, the 20-year-old Kate shows why she’s commanding fees of £10,000 a day.
Moss perfects the perfect pout in 1995
1996, the year Kate wins the Vogue/VH1 Model Of The Year competition
1995: Kate’s learned how to perfect the pout — here accentuated with a striking red lipstick — and hooks up with the first of many celebrity boyfriends in the form of Hollywood actor Johnny Depp.

In his day, Johnny was a hell-raiser, but even he told friends he struggled to keep up with Kate’s drinking and wild partying.
1996: This is the year Kate wins the Vogue/VH1 Model Of The Year competition.
The sullen, vacant stare seen here on the catwalk at a Calvin Klein show is becoming her trademark.
Off-duty, Johnny Depp is introducing her to the Hollywood brat pack.
Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves are becoming her new celebrity friends. 
In 1997, Kate's two-packs-a-day habit starts to take its toll
Soon after her break-up with Johnny Depp in 1998, Kate checks into the Priory
1997: When she’s not burning the midnight oil in Los Angeles, Kate is hitting the clubs in London with her new best friends, rock star Liam Gallagher and actress Patsy Kensit.

Her two-packs-a-day smoking habit is just starting to take its toll.
The supermodel’s skin is beginning to look dull and her teeth are showing signs of becoming stained.
1998: Reputedly earning £3million a year, but all those late nights — and the break-up of her relationship with Depp soon after this picture was taken — all prove too much, and in November Kate checks into rehab at The Priory.
Rumours of drug-taking are rife, but Kate insists she simply ‘partied too much’.


Refreshed and detoxed, Kate reappears on the catwalk in 1999
In 2000, at the age of 26, Kate becomes a regular in the Primrose Hill set
1999: Refreshed and detoxed, Kate appears on the catwalk for the first time after rehab.

The scandal didn’t harm her career — climbing to 18th in the list of Britain’s richest women, she racks up a six-figure fee for a L’Oreal hair commercial and closes the year on the cover of American Vogue.
2000: Is she really just 26? Kate has become a fixture in the louche Primrose Hill set, alongside Sadie Frost and Jude Law.
The reckless lifestyle results in a health scare that puts the model in hospital with a kidney infection. Not that it seems to matter in the cynical world of fashion.
She briefly quits the catwalk, but is soon coaxed back.
In 2001, Kate is fuller faced - and also Britain's wealthiest supermodel
It is around this time in 2002 that Kate becomes pregnant
2001: Now with a new partner, magazine journalist Jefferson Hack, Kate is fuller-faced — and also Britain’s wealthiest supermodel, worth £15 million.

But in an interview she says modelling is often far from thrilling, and reveals that she turned to drink and drugs because she started to find the job boring.
2002: Eyes blurred, and a cigarette dangling from her mouth, the model emerges from another night on the town. Yet it is around the time this picture is taken that Kate becomes pregnant.
Nine months later, the model gives birth to Lila Grace. Whether Kate is mature enough to look after herself, let alone a newborn, is another matter.
The christening of Kate's daughter, Lila, prompts a two-day booze-fuelled marathon party in 2003
As Kate turns 30 in 2004, her once healthy hair is losing its lustre
2003: A mother, but still a jetsetter, Kate takes Lila with her to Thailand and to New York. If her eyes look weary, it may be because she’s still partying.

Even Lila’s christening prompts a two-day booze-fuelled celebration. As for maternity leave, forget it. Kate attends every major summer event, from Glastonbury to pal Stella McCartney’s wedding.
2004: Her once-healthy hair is losing its lustre. But as she turns 30, there’s no sign of slowing down.
Kate celebrates her birthday with a Beautiful And Damned themed party recreating the debauched world inhabited by the fast-living but ultimately doomed characters of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.
The moral of the story seems to have escaped her.
In 2005, Kate hooks up with her new boyfriend, rockstar and junkie Pete Doherty
Despite her drugs debacle the previous year, in 2006 Moss picks up contracts with Calvin Klein, Roberto Cavalli, Bulgari and Stella McCartney among others
2005: Scowling and with wrinkles around her eyes and nose, Kate is plummeting off the rails thanks to a new boyfriend, rock star (and junkie) Pete Doherty.

It’s not long before Kate is pictured snorting what appears to be cocaine and is plunged into a scandal. She loses an H&M campaign, but clings on to her Dior contract.
Today, she’s the face of their new perfume . . .Dior Addict.
2006: Kate starts the year on the ski slopes with a 20-year-old toyboy named Jamie Burke.
Despite the whole drugs debacle, the British model picks up contracts with Calvin Klein, Roberto Cavalli, Bulgari, Stella McCartney and Virgin Mobile among others. So why does she look so glum here?
Perhaps it’s something to do with her troubled rekindled relationship with Doherty.
In 2007 Kate launches her second range of designs for Topshop
Kate's beginning to show her age in 2008 when she quits her 34th birthday celebration after just 18 hours
2007: After splitting with Pete Doherty, Kate launches the second range of her designs for Topshop, after chatting up its owner Philip Green with the line: ‘I’m a girl from Croydon, you’re a boy from Croydon, why don’t we do something together?’

The pair are soon out on the town together. Quite what Green’s wife Tina makes of it is another matter.
2008: Is it EastEnders’ Gillian Taylforth? The year begins with a planned 34‑hour celebration to mark her 34th birthday.
But age is catching up with the model as she heads to bed at her £8 million new home in North London after only 18 hours.
Her latest relationship — with guitarist Jamie Hince — follows a rocky path after rows over her party lifestyle.
In 2009, it seems the past year has taken its toll
Kate looks more like her former self in 2010 - but is it just the heavy make up?
2009: Oh dear. The past year has taken its toll.

It started with another boozy 18-hour birthday party (yawn). But the harsh light of the Cote D’Azur weather shows up the unflattering effect that sun, cigarettes and alcohol have taken on her skin.
Her forehead shows lines, crows’ feet are obvious and her skin looks parched and patchy.
2010: Rumours circulate that Kate has married her boyfriend Jamie Hince, but, in fact, they have just got engaged.
At the launch party for Topshop’s Knightsbridge store, Kate looks more like her old self.
But her famously almond-shaped eyes and chiselled cheekbones are enhanced (disguised?) with heavy make-up.
By 2011, Moss looks 37 going on 47 as she prepares for her marriage to Jamie Hince
2011: Looking 37 going on 47, Kate is now busy preparing for her July wedding to Jamie Hince.

How she is dressed on the big day will be a surprise, but one thing is certain: she’ll be almost unrecognisable from the fresh-faced 17-year-old that she was 20 years ago when she posed in that early shoot for Brides magazine.

1 comment:

  1. I prefer her look now. Her features are more distinct and her eyes tell the story of a person who has lived and laughed a lot. I think it is sad that you can't appreciate her charm and beauty.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...