Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an iconic English supermodel and fashion designer. She is known for her waifish figure and many advertising campaigns and is also notorious for her high-profile relationships and party lifestyle. She has appeared on over 300 magazine covers.

Moss was born in Addiscombe, Croydon, South London, England to Linda Rosina (Shepherd), a boutique manager, and Peter Edward Moss, an airline clerk. Kate has a younger brother called Nick and a half sister and brother . Moss' parents divorced when she was 13. She attended Ridgeway Primary School, then Riddlesdown High School. She was not noted for her academic success, although she did excel at sports. According to Vermorel's book Addicted to Love: Kate Moss, she received one C (in Science) and Ds, Es, and Us in all others at GCSE level.

She was discovered at the age of 14 by Sarah Doukas (the founder of Storm Model Management) in 1988, at JFK Airport in New York City, after a vacation in the Bahamas. Moss's career began when Corinne Day shot black and white photographs of her 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 at the time, such as Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell, who were known for their curvaceous and tall figures through out the 90's.

Moss was voted 8th in Celebrity Sleuths 25 Sexiest Women of 2004, 8th in Maxims 50 Sexiest Women of 1999 and 22nd in FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 1995. Mens magazine 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 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.

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. Her depiction in photographs also drew criticism from United States President Bill Clinton who spoke out against the growing heroin chic trend. Moss charmed the fashion industry despite being unusually short for a runway model, and has worked for many elite fashion lines. Now in her 30s, Moss is still working and has become a supermodel in her own right. In 2005, she came #2 on The Biggest Comeback Stars List – she lost to pop singer Mariah Carey.

In addition to being known for her modeling 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's international best-dressed list. She even 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, Marc Jacobs ankle boots, Vivienne Westwood Pirate Boots, skinny jeans, the waistcoat, Alexander McQueen's skull scarf, Louis Vuitton's Sprouse Leopard Cashmere Scarf (which sold out in Europe), wide-legged jeans, Lanvin boots, YSL's Muse bag and the Balenciaga handbag,, as well as recently bringing high-waisted styles and waist-cinching belts back into popularity.

Moss has had campaigns with major Italian, French, American, and British designers including Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Chanel, Missoni, Longchamp, David Yurman, Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, Burberry, Rimmel, and Bvlgari, including a campaign for the successful Brazilian label ELLUS during summer 2000. 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 British Vogue alone 24 times (in addition to dozens of other international Vogue covers) 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 ceremony was from the Christian Dior fall 2005 haute couture designed by John Galliano.

April 2005 saw the launch of the Rimmel London mascara TV ad featuring a leather-clad Kate Moss riding a motorbike through London to the sound of Rock music.

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

Twelve months after her cocaine scandal Moss made a comeback by bagging 18 top modeling contracts for the Autumn/Winter 2006 season which include: Rimmel, Agent Provocateur, Virgin Mobile, Belstaff, Beymen, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Longchamp, Stella McCartney, Bulgari, Chanel, Nikon, David Yurman, Versace, Mia Shvili, Calvin Klein Jeans and Burberry. Moss has also agreed to make her first foray into the design world by designing a collection, in collaboration with Katy England, for Topshop, while it has also been announced that Moss will launch a fragrance and body lotion range bearing her name in association with Coty in 2007.

According to Forbes.com Moss is earning more money than before her cocaine scandal. Her 2004-2005 earnings were $5 million and her 2005-2006 earnings were $8 million. She is currently the second highest paid model in the world behind Gisele Bündchen.

In November 2006, Moss won the Model of the Year prize at the British Fashion Awards, the top accolade in British fashion, but the award has divided opinion and stirred fresh controversy.

On September 27 2007, The Sun published a story entitled, "Kate Moss dumped by seven brands", describing her "cocaine honeymoon" as fading away. The story continues by stating that last autumn 2006 she had eighteen contracts in comparison to 2007's eleven. And this time last year, fashion bible Vogue had six campaigns using Moss including Dior, Louis Vuitton and Burberry. November 2007's issue has none. The story concludes by saying that an industry source has said "She is still very big but the honeymoon period has ended."

On May 1 2007 a collection of clothes, designed by Moss exclusively for the Topshop chain, were launched across the UK in the chain's 225 stores. A Kate Moss "countdown to launch" board filled a window of the company's flagship Oxford Street store and on April 30, 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. 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 shoppers are limited to five items each to prevent the clothes appearing on eBay and are 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.

The collection received mixed reviews from the fashion press. British fashion critics lauded the range, however the New York Post hailed it "Duplikate", based on the strong similarities between Moss's own wardrobe. The range was mildly criticized by fashion advisors Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine who argued that the clothing was modelled for only the slimmest of women, and that they were not suitable for an average woman's figure. They stated "No one has a figure like hers so her clothes only really look good on her — not real women." The TopShop range was later released in America at the New York chain store Barneys where 26 designs from the range were on sale for higher prices.

Moss underwear collection for Topshop is going on sale on October 25, 2007.

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 also provided vocals for songs by Primal Scream (the 2003 version of "Some Velvet Morning") and Babyshambles. Her vocals are featured on the Babyshambles' "La Belle et la Bête", singing the lines "Is she more beautiful than me?". Prior to Kate's break-up with Doherty, she co-wrote four songs from Babyshambles' second album Shotter's Nation - "You Talk", "French Dog Blues", "Baddie's Boogie" & "Deft Left Hand".

Moss has also DJ'd on more than one occasion at the Death Disco club with her friends Alan McGee and BP Fallon.

Moss is also known for her close friendships with many rock and roll icons and musicians such as Elton John, Mick Jones, Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull and Bobby Gillespie.

She was also mentioned in Kanye West's 2007 song "Stronger": "You can be my black Kate Moss tonight".

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. 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 Homes of Hope along with her close friend Sadie Frost.

On 22 November 2006, Moss recorded an appearance in a Little Britain sketch for Comic Relief at the Hammersmith Apollo as a character called Katie Pollard, sister of Vicky Pollard played by Matt Lucas.

After previously having long-term relationships such as those with Mario Sorrenti and Johnny Depp, Moss had a daughter, Lila Grace, born on 29 September, 2002, with Dazed & Confused editor Jefferson Hack. She is also godmother to the two sons of The Clash member Paul Simonon and to the daughter of Sadie Frost and Jude Law.

Kate Moss has long been linked romantically with former Libertines member Pete Doherty. On April 11, 2007 Pete Doherty announced Moss as his fiancée during one of his concerts in London, at which Moss also performed. Doherty planned to marry Moss during the summer 2007. However, in July 2007 Moss and Doherty broke up. A report claims that Pete Doherty cheated on Kate Moss with a girl he met in a nightclub. Doherty was seen leaving London's Crystal nightclub with a South African brunette named only as Lindy. A removal van arrived to take away Doherty's possessions out of Moss's home after they had a series of rows and arguments. Doherty is reported to have said "It's like living with a fucking stalker." Moss had also changed the locks to the gates allowing access into her house. She was due to model on the catwalk for John Galliano with Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Lily Cole and Gisele Bundchen but was too distraught with her break-up to participate.

Moss currently lives with her daughter Lila-Grace in St John's Wood, London.

The British tabloids and paparazzi often target Moss.

One of the first controversies about Kate Moss was surrounding her weight, to which she replied "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'?"

British tabloids and the paparazzi, particularly the Daily Mirror, have long claimed that Moss habitually used cocaine. In interviews Moss dismissed these claims as ridiculous, and the Sunday Mirror was sued successfully by Moss for claiming that she had slipped into a coma after taking large amounts of cocaine in Spain in the 1990s.

On 15 September, 2005, London's Daily Mirror ran front page and inside photos that seemed to show Moss snorting several lines of cocaine at a Babyshambles recording session. It was also reported that Moss snorted five lines in 40 minutes. It has been alleged by Babyshambles' singer Pete Doherty that James Mullord, his former manager, sold the photos to the newspaper for more than £150,000. Within a short time of publication, Moss lost major modeling contracts with several international companies. The story was followed up the following weekend, with the tabloids suggesting Moss had a long-standing lesbian affair with best friend Sadie Frost, having had drug fuelled sex sessions with both Frost and Sadie's then husband Jude Law several times, and that she has also been involved in lesbian threesomes with Frost and British TV star Davinia Taylor.

On 20 September, 2005, the Swedish fashion retailer H&M, which intended to feature her in a campaign of their autumn clothes range designed by Moss's good friend Stella McCartney, announced instead that it was dropping Moss after the drug allegations. The contract was reportedly worth £4 million a year. A day later, Chanel announced that it would not be renewing its contract with Moss, which was set to expire in that October, although the company said that its decision had nothing to do with the drug scandal. Burberry also decided to drop Moss's campaign with them. Moss quickly issued an apology though she stopped short of admitting drug use. "I take full responsibility for my actions. I also accept that there are various personal issues that I need to address and have started taking the difficult, yet necessary, steps to resolve them," she said. "I want to apologize to all of the people I have let down because of my behaviour which has reflected badly on my family, friends, co-workers, business associates and others."

Moss continued to appear in major ad campaigns during this period for Dior. She was on the cover of the November 2005 W and also appeared inside in a multi-page fashion shoot. She was also defended by friends and supporters, including models Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen, French actress Catherine Deneuve, her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp, and designer Alexander McQueen. McQueen's defense was especially notable and during his walk out after a fashion show he wore a t-shirt saying "We love you Kate". Artist Stella Vine also supported her, and paintings of Moss by Vine in this incident were exhibited and reproduced in the press. Pop singer Robbie Williams said of Moss's relationship with Doherty, "I can understand why Kate finds it difficult to leave Pete, he has a certain charisma surrounding him."

Also in November 2005, Moss ended her relationship with Doherty soon after he checked himself out of Meadows Clinic in Arizona, failing to complete a programme for drug rehabilitation. Moss herself underwent successful treatment there in October and had urged Doherty to seek the same treatment himself. Doherty claims that their separation involved other issues, telling the The Sun newspaper that Moss left him because, “I can’t buy her diamonds and my dick is too small.”

On 5 January, 2006, the Metropolitan Police asked Moss to return from the US to Britain to answer questions about the September 2005 cocaine scandal. The following day, the Daily Mirror reported that Moss would return to Britain and face arrest about allegations of cocaine usage. She was interviewed by police in London on 31 January, 2006, with her solicitor present, but reportedly made no admissions, and she was not arrested (photographs of alleged drug-taking are not admissible evidence in British courts). On 16 June 2006, British police finally dropped the charges for lack of evidence. Ultimately Moss was cleared of all charges, and resumed her modeling career. Criticism of Moss has however continued and her career revival has been viewed as a sign of moral and cultural decline by conservatives such as Peter Hitchens.

*Vermorel, Fred - Addicted To Love: Kate Moss (Omnibus Press, 2006) ISBN 1-84609-158-6 *Moss, Kate - Kate: The Kate Moss Book (Universe, 15 August 1997) ISBN 0-7893-0101-6 *Kendall, Katherine - Kate Moss: Model of Imperfection (Penguin Group, 2005) ISBN 1-59609-033-2

<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:1;">

</div>

* * * * *Kate Moss painting by Lucien Freud