There is no bigger poster girl for British party culture than Kate Moss. Whether it be in her saint-like devotion to the fields of Glastonbury, her ability to make even the messiest night out look like an album cover (you may recall Pete Doherty and that window picture) or her Champagne-fuelled behind-the-scenes behaviour at fashion shows — she once described her first 10 years of modelling as “being drunk for a decade” — Kate was born to party. And how fitting, then, that some of Moss’ most iconic party antics have come on the day of her birth.
She’s toned it down in recent years — this year’s 50th birthday celebrations are set to be hosted on the Caribbean island of Mustique, the “gold standard” of luxury retreats that last year played host to the Prince and Princess of Wales' family holiday. Between the non-British locale and Kate’s apparent newfound sobriety, we doubt this year will reach the scale of her previous parties. But then, you know what they say: you can take the girl out of England…
From noise complaints and rumours of orgies to Bond girl outfits and spit roasts, here’s a look back through some of Mossy’s most legendary January 16 soirees.
Claridge’s, chaos and council complaints
Kate Moss’ 30th birthday party was an evening so rambunctious and debauched that it has gained a permanent place in British party lore, which is really quite the accolade. It began and ended in Claridge’s, with a roaring house party used as intermission.
First, the legendary London hotel played host to a drinks do with Kate’s nearest and dearest — Sadie Frost, Stella McCartney, all the usual suspects — where Kate arrived wearing a yellow Sue Stemp cocktail dress, a look that became so popular she would later model one of her Kate Moss for Topshop designs around it. The group of friends got ready and changed into outfits in keeping with Kate’s theme — The Beautiful and the Damned — which saw Kate don a midnight blue sequined gown, originally worn by Bond girl Britt Ekland to the 1974 premiere of The Man with the Golden Gun.
The group then headed off to the house of Sam Taylor-Wood, the budding director who would go on to become Sam Taylor-Johnson, director of Nowhere Boy and Fifty Shades of Grey, and wife of Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Guests included Kate’s lover du jour (and now baby daddy) Jefferson Hack, Ronnie Wood, Tracey Emin, Naomi Campbell and the late great Lee Alexander McQueen. Unfortunately, things at Taylor-Wood’s got a little loud for the local inhabitants, and noise prevention officers paid the property a visit around 1.45am. So, the party uprooted themselves back to Claridge’s to continue until 7.30am.
Spread across two suites on the seventh floor, Kate spread herself across a piano and sang Summertime with Jools Holland, apparently knocking back bottle after bottle of Cristal champagne. While the rest of the events of that night are unknown, we know that the party was raucous enough to cause Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin to leave early, and send Ronnie Wood flying off the wagon. He later described Kate as 'a lovely nutcase'. A spy at the party later told the Mirror: "As far as Kate was concerned, it was her day and no one was going to spoil it — especially Westminster Council."
Glam rock, Chanel and Soho
Fast forward four years, and Kate is clad in another sparkling birthday suit — this time a star-print Chanel number, with a Bowie-esque star painted lovingly across her eye by close friend and makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury. The theme was glam rock, and the celebrations began at The Dorchester at 2pm, where Kate had hired out two floors (to the tune of £20,000) to drink champagne with 19 of her girlfriends. She then dined at the hotel’s China Tang restaurant with friends and family before moving to the main party at Punk in Soho.
Moss danced to '80s rock until 3am with Kelly Osbourne, Davinia Taylor, Mario Testino, David Walliams and her then-boyfriend, The Kills rocker Jamie Hince. Much like the Claridge’s bash, Kate then returned to The Dorchester's Royal Penthouse with a handful of close friends, where they drank Diamond Chasers — a cocktail of vintage champagne, cognac, and an “unknown special ingredient” that was created especially for Britain's Princess Margaret in the 60s. But that wasn’t it — the party later moved on to the home of Miu Miu model Rose Ferguson around 6am, before leaving at 8am and returning with just a handful of hardcore pals to Kate’s home in St John's Wood, where they were seen entering with several bottles of vodka.
All in all, it was an 18-hour effort from Mossy — much to her dismay. She had been planning to do 34 hours, to mark 34 years. Not a bad attempt, though. And as it turns out, Kate would more than make up for it the year after…
Medieval mayhem in St John’s Wood
One year on, and Kate was clearly still preoccupied with her failure to meet that 34-hour target. By Kate’s measures, 18 hours just wasn’t quite enough. So for her 35th birthday, the supermodel decided to throw a medieval-themed house party that turned into a momentous four-day bender. Paparazzi must have chortled as they watched hog roasts, wall-mounted stags, tiger busts, medieval benches and, uh, ye olde fire extinguishers arrive outside Moss’ in St John’s Wood residence throughout the day.
Meanwhile, Kate was busy at the avant-party: a nine-hour drinking session at China Tang, clearly a favourite from the previous year’s celebrations. This birthday was an all-black affair, with Kate stepping out in a black fur coat, T-shirt dress and silver jewellery.
After the consumption of dim sum and many, many more bottles of Cristal, Kate headed to her house for the party, which went on for over 48 hours, rather irking her neighbours. Hairdresser and stylist James Brown, Sadie Frost, Stella McCartney, Davinia Taylor, Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch were all in attendance, dancing along to the Beach Boys, Meat Loaf and Queen at record volumes. One neighbour told publications at the time: “I went to bed at midnight but couldn't get to sleep because the music from the house was so loud. Even with double glazing.”
Tattoos, benders and party barns
Kate Moss was defiant that turning 40 wasn’t going to dampen her party spirit, nor was it going to put her in a box: just two months before Kate hit the milestone, she appeared on the cover of Playboy in her literal birthday suit for the very first time. So anyone who thought Mossy’s 40th might be a tamer affair was swiftly corrected. It was, instead, another multiple-day bender, this time spread across multiple counties, too.
Beginning in London, Kate drank and ate with her loved ones at 34 Mayfair, where they had created a bespoke champagne coupe in Kate’s name just for the occasion. There were the usual attendees — Stella, Sadie, et al. — as well as a host of other famous faces, including Nick Grimshaw, John Galliano, Naomi Campbell and Jamie Hince, Kate’s then-husband. For this portion of the celebrations, Moss wore her signature leopard coat, a lace LBD and patent-heeled brogues.
But it wasn’t until guests decamped to Kate’s 10-bedroom home in the Cotswolds that things really got going. A Glastonbury-themed birthday bash was underway, in tribute to Kate’s longstanding love for the Somerset music festival. As is standard at Mossy birthdays, no cameras were allowed, which means the outfits and happenings remain undivulged, but we know this much: most of the party took place in Moss’ “party barn”, a permanent fixture of the Cotswolds home that provided attendees with live performances from Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Soul II Soul and members of Oasis (we assume this is singular, not plural, unless Kate managed the pull a blinder and host a one-off Liam and Noel reunion that night).
And those who ventured into the nearby caravan were offered a more lasting party favour: a tattoo of a heart, with an infinity symbol inked through the middle. You can say what you like about our Kate, but she knows how to host a party.
