Kate Moss: The Model, The Muse, The Icon

The word 'icon' gets bandied around a lot these days, but never is it more aptly used than when referencing model Kate Moss. She is the face of not one, but many generations. She is the beauty from Croydon; the woman who has intrigued, delighted and shocked – and who continues to do all of those things.

Who hasn't heard of Kate Moss? As the UK's greatest model ever, many would argue, she is the world's best as well.

She has walked the catwalk for top designers like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, McQueen; she has fronted campaigns for Burberry, Calvin Klein and Dior; she has designed for Topshop; she is contributing editor for UK Vogue... when it comes to fashion, the woman has seen – and most likely, starred in – it all.

Put simply, Kate Moss is a phenomenon. Below we chart her life throughout the decades – her career, her relationships and most importantly her style, that astounding ability to wear anything, and still look, ever classically, iconic.

Kate Moss – The Bio

Age: 41

**Date of Birth: **16 January 1974

Place of Birth: Croydon

**Education: **Ridgeway Primary School and Riddlesdown Collegiate in Putney.

Three fun facts:

1.) She was discovered at JFK Airport after having been on holiday in the Bahamas. Kate was just 14.

2.) Kate's said to be a big fan of Eastenders. And apparently she supports Chelsea FC.

3.) Kate drinks 10-15 cups of tea a day. She once said if she could be any tea leaf in the world, it would be: 'an Indian tea leaf in Darjeeling'.

Kate Moss Key Dates

**1988: **She was discovered by Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Model Management, at JFK Airport in New York.

1988: Her first photoshoot was shot by David Ross as a favour for Sarah Doukas. The pictures were black and white, and Kate wore a printed white jumper.

1990: The issue of *The Face *featuring Kate as covergirl was published. The photographs were taken on Camber Sands in England, and after they were seen by Fabien Baron, Kate was signed for Calvin Klein.

1993: Kate signed for Calvin Klein and featured in the scent 'Obsession' campaign in a shoot which saw her pale skin and dark circles under her eyes dubbed new look 'heroin chic'. Featuring the young model looking very thin and It was shot by Kate's then boyfriend, photographer Mario Sorrenti. Speaking of the shoot, Kate told Nick Knight in an interview for ShowStudio Subjective's series: 'When you're in a relationship with a photographer and they start abusing that relationship - and being like, 'I want you to do this, and I want you to do that' - it makes you go, 'No'. I didn't want to work all the time, but he'd be like, 'Get up on the roof, take your clothes off,' and I would think, 'F*** off!' Now I understand that kind of thing a bit better, capturing an image, but at the time I was 17.'

1993: She featured on the front cover of British Vogue.

**1996: **Kate became engaged to her then boyfriend, Johnny Depp.

**1997: **Walks the Autumn/Winter show for Chanel, Chloe and Christan Dior in Paris.

**1998: **Splits from Johnny Depp.

**2002: **Gives birth to daughter, Lila Grace, whose father was Dazed & Confused editor, Jefferson Hack.

**2005: **The Mirror publishes photographs of Kate using cocaine. She is later dropped by H&M, Chanel and Burberry. That year Kate had met the Libertines co-frontman, Pete Doherty.

**2006: **Kate acts in a *Little Britain *comedy sketch for Comic Relief.

**2007: **Whilst on stage in his first solo gig in Hackney Empire, Pete Doherty announces Kate as his finacee.

**May 2007: **Kate's first collection for Topshop – 'Moss for Topshop' – was launched in the chain's 225 UK stores.

July 2007: Kate breaks up with Pete Doherty after his alleged affair with Lindi Hingston and hires body guards to keep him away.

2011: Kate married Jamie Hince, guitarist of The Kills in Gloucestershire. She wore a dress by John Galliano.

**2013: **Kate poses naked for the 60th annivcersary issue of Playboy.

**2014: **Kate teams up with Cara Delevingne to front the ad campaign for Burberry's new fragrance, My Burberry.

**2015: **Kate was ordered off an EasyJet flight for allegedly being disruptive.

**2015: **Rumours are rife that her marriage to Jamie Hince has broken down.

Kate Moss Style

Tbh, describing Kate Moss's style is basically impossible. And that is because it's indefinable. Yes, indefinable. She might have a certain look – a grungy, boho, edgy well.. 'edge' (we can't imagine her in a pink tutu with bows in her hair for instance) – but by and large, her style is as ever-changing as the seasons (the fashion ones). She moves seamlessly with the times, rocking each era as easily as she did the last.

As the style gallery below shows, she can do rock chick, she can do old school glamour, she can do metallic, animal print, denim, fur, leather, gowns – you name it. On the beach, on a yacht, at Glastonbury, at awards ceremonies, on the very street down from the road where you live... Kate Moss will turn heads. Which is why, as she once told Vanity Fair, she likes to dress down now when she's not working. 'I just wear black jeans now,' she said. 'Or grey. If you do a different look every day, they’re going to be waiting for the next look, and then it’s a paparazzi shot. Whereas if you just wear the same thing, then they get bored and leave you alone.'

Done up, or dressed down she remains nevertheless, the ultimate, the definitive, the absolute style icon of her generation – and we'd challenge anyone to disagree.

Kate Moss Best Looks...

Kate Moss's Relationships

Johnny Depp

It's often forgotten that a soon-to-be queen of fashion once went out with a soon-to-be king of Hollywood, but she did. Kate Moss met Johnny Depp in Cafe Tabac, New York in 1994 after she had been signed as the face of YSL Opium perfume.

Depp had recently divorced from his first wife Lori Anne Allison and had been since engaged to Jennifer Grey, Sherilyn Fenn and Winona Ryder.

Of the realtionship, Kate told Vanity Fair: 'There's nobody that's ever really been able to take care of me. Johnny did for a bit. I believed what he said. Like if I said, 'What do I do?,' he'd tell me. And that's what I missed when I left. I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust. Nightmare. Years and years of crying. Oh, the tears!'

Johnny and Kate split in 1997 after the premiere of his directorial debut, the Brave at Cannes.

Pete Doherty

![Kate Moss And Pete Doherty At Glastonbury Festival – 2005 [Rex]

Kate met Pete when he performed with The Libertines at her 31st birthday party in the Cotswold in January 2005. The pair went on to have an 'on/off' relationship that lasted approximately two years.

Pete once said of their relationship: 'It was love at first meet. When I met her she said she'd get a 'P' tattoo, and I'd get a 'K'. Soon afterwards she said 'I'm not fickle, I'll marry you'.'

In 2007, Pete announced to fans at gig in Hackney Empire that Kate was his fiancée, but the couple split for good later that year.

Jamie Hince

Kate apparently 'found' Jamie on the internet... She once told of how she had been 'Googling men' when a picture of Jamie Hince (of rock band The Kills) came up.

'Jamie's amazing,' she once said. 'Basically, he turned up. I was at my friend's house in the South of France, and we were Googling men. And I went, "Ooh, I like the look of him."

'A friend set us up. He turned up, and we spent the next four days together. And after we finally woke up, I said, "Do you want a bacon sandwich?" And he just laughed at me.'

She went on to say: 'I didn't know he was a vegan. We'd been together four days. He wasn't a vegan for much longer. I did get him with the bacon sandwich.'

The couple married in July 2011 at St Peter's Church, Southrop in Gloucestershire. Kate wore a dress designed by John Galliano and bespoke Manolo Blahnik shoes. Guests included Naomi Campbell, Anna Wintour, Saide Frost and Bryan Ferry.

However, reports last year suggest the couple have since split and are now living separate lives.

WATCH: Kate Moss Fashion Through The Years