There is no other Kate Moss. At a tiny 5'6" (some claim that she's actually 5'7") her chiseled, sexy money making face defied the traditional ground rules of what a super model was supposed to be. At a time when the statuesque and curvy supers such as Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffler and Elle Machpherson were what women were to envy, she strutted in as a size zero teenager shocked the fashion world.
Its not as if all women could come close to looking like the "The Supers", but adding a tiny unique creature like Moss to the mix had critics blaming her for the eating disorders of the world. When Nirvana was screaming about Teen Spirit, and a new generation of kids cared less, the fashion industry introduced the look of heroin chic. She became the face of druggie glam kids -- the waif, pale misanthrope genre. Her look even got beef from the President of the United States, Bill Clinton. (As if the drug look is what made him take notice).
Many women hated on her too. Shes' aneorexic, they cried. Her comments like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" didn't help the robust ladies want to embrace her in a fashion world that was already exclusional and aspirational rather than an all inclusive mirror. But say what you want, if Moss' face was on it, if her body was in it, then it sold. Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Bulgari, Longchamp, Chanel, Topshop, Rimmel, Calvin Klein, Burberry; you name it and she's hawked it.
Even her very public mess of personal life couldn't stop the world from buying what she was selling. She earned more after the 2005 publication of photos of the model snorting coke ran in Daily Mirror than prior to the expose. Like a politician who cheated on his wife with an escort and a congressman who sent penis pictures across the internet, she admited there was a problem and checked into rehab. She went on to earn an estimated 9 million dollars, just a step behind Gisele as the highest paid female model in the world.
And just this past season, Marc Jacobs ended his show for Louis Vuitton with a more meaty, older Moss, cigarette in hand, not giving a sh*t , walking down the runway.
But with all those who get down on her, there are those that embrace her no B.S. persona. The woman in the pictures, dressed to perfection seems much different than the Kate Moss who throws on what she wants and asks that her wrinkles not be retouched.
With a wedding to a musician this weekend, all eyes were on Moss. People expected to see that flawless Vogue editorial Kate, in which no seam was left unpinned, her skin smooth and blemish free, and her hair bundled in perfect celebrity styled up do? What a surprise it was to watchers when her John Galliano dress was as run-of-the-mill as a dress could get, her face was barely made up and her hair was just long and limp. Along with John Galliano's recent troubles, blogs and gossip rags were talking. Will the Jewish community forgive her for choosing her wedding dress designer as the one who shamed Christian Dior with his drunk as a skunk anti-Semitic slurs?
The underwhelming matrimonial dress of Mrs. Moss-Hince is just an example of how in fashion and celebrity culture, we take the flawed, personal human element out and expect the perfect sensationalized fantasy manifested version. We love that version. We can't stop looking. Most of us dream about being more beautiful, richer, thinner, cooler. But you suck if you are. Yay, real women campaigns! I want to see more people like me.
No. I don't. I want to escape into a world where this beautiful freak of nature is made more astonishing by people that also do what I do. I want a giant chunk of whimsical, alluring fantasy.
That said, do I lose sight of reality and do whatever it takes to obtain these visions? No. Why would I? My nose is not going to ever be a perfect button size. My already protruding ears will get bigger with age. My hair will turn gray. I have cellulite on my hips. I chew my nails. I'm not overly social. I will never be the next "it" socialite. My teeth are an overcrowded mess. This I could fix, that is if in reality the fashion industry paid well to its lowly assistants.
This is why I'm all aboard the Kate Moss train. She is both real and fantasy. In the same way she triggers that need for perfection, she smashes it all the same by letting herself be seen as she is as Kate the person (confused and flawed) and not just Kate Moss the retouched silent and mythical icon.
So now lets have some fun.Check out this gallery of pictures wedding dresses for Kate Moss the Icon vs. Kate Moss the Human.
And for some great old-school Moss photo shrines, check out Flaunt's Acid Flashback.
