When Calvin Klein launched his first campaign with Kate Moss, who turns 50 today, the Croydon-born model acquired icon status almost overnight. She was just 17. Not only did the images end up plastered across every teenager’s bedroom, but they also became synonymous with the look of an era: a pared-back, democratic aesthetic that young people could aspire to from both sides of the class divide. However, the imagery – shot by Herb Ritts, and later Mario Sorrenti and Steven Klein – was also a lightning rod for red-top papers and trade magazines keen to weigh in on “heroin chic”, a byword for gaunt, waif-thin models. Think dark circles under the eyes, a cigarette hung from the lips, skimpy getups. Moss, naturally skinny and mixing with the proverbial wrong crowd since she was 13, was an easy target.
Of course, it was a two-sided battle. Like many pop cultural moments, her stardom came from a perfect storm. Despite her demonisation, Moss was also the appointed face of Cool Britannia, standing as a cornerstone for nineties poptimism and a riposte to the glamazons of Eighties fashion. She was a supermodel – up there with the Vogue favourites – but she also offered a rawer, more relatable attitude, primed with less-than-perfect gnashers and a characteristically British awkwardness that dissolved only when she stepped onto the runway. As such, her Klein contract also marked the moment that Britishness became a global export, that indescribable “cheek” brought to the States and beyond.
