July 25, 2022, 9:14 AM
July 25, 2022, 9:14 AM
Kate Moss spoke about the early years of her modeling career on a BBC radio show.
British supermodel Kate Moss has revealed how a photo shoot she did as a teenager opened her eyes to the dangers of the fashion industry.
In an intervention on the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs, Moss spoke of a time when a man wanted to photograph her for a bra catalog.
The model was just 15 years old and the photographer told her to take off her bra.
Kate Moss said the experience had “sharpened instinct” and as a result gave him the ability to “spot a trout person within leagues”.
“I was about 15 years old and he told me: ‘Take off your shirt,'” she said.
“I took my shirt off, I was body shy back then, and she said ‘take your bra off’ and I could tell something was wrong, so I grabbed my things and ran.”
The model was discovered by a talent agent at the age of 14 and was signed by the Storm modeling agency in 1988.
Now 48, she told presenter Lauren Laverne that she was going to casting sessions in London alone, armed only with a pocket map of the city’s streets.
Moss became one of the most famous faces in the modeling world and continues to be in demand by designers and magazine editors around the world.
Her extremely slim figure, with a waif-like appearance, defied the image of the statuesque and voluptuous models that dominated the catwalks in the 1990s.
Kate Moss modeling in Paris in 1993.
In 1992, he posed in his first major ad campaign for designer Calvin Klein with actor Mark Wahlberg, who was then known as Marky Mark.
But Moss said that underwear photography session did not bring back good memories.
She posed half-naked for the photographs and said that felt depersonalized and “vulnerable and scared”.
She explained that she suffered from severe anxiety prior to the session and was prescribed valium to help her cope with the experience.
The care of the models
Kate Moss has her own modeling agency, including her own daughter, Lila.
Today she is a modeling agent, with her daughter Lila Moss in her catalogue, to whom the iconic British and world personality has been able to give advice on the fashion industry.
“I’ve told him you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said.
“If you don’t want to do this photo shoot, if you don’t feel comfortable, if you don’t want to be a model, don’t do it.”
He explained that he takes care of his models and makes sure an agent is always with them during a photo shoot so there’s someone there who can say “I don’t think that’s appropriate”.
Moss was also outspoken about supporting his friend John Galliano, the designer who was found guilty of racist abuse in 2011, and his former partner, actor Johnny Depp, during the recent US libel trial.
“I believe in truth and I believe in fairness and justice,” he clarified.
“I know John Galliano is not a bad person. He had a drinking problem and people change. People are not themselves when they drink and say things they would never say if they were sober.”
He went on to say, “I know the truth about Johnny. I know he never kicked me down the stairs. He had to tell the truth.”
The model testified during her ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp’s lawsuit trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard in May.
For a time, Moss was perhaps best known for her controversial fashion photos taken by Corinne Day for the magazine British Vogue in 1993.
The images of Day with the suggestive poses of Moss were criticized and generated a debate in the media about the so-called trend “heroine chic”.
“I think I was the scapegoat for a lot of people’s problems. I was never anorexic. I never have been,” the model declared.
Kate Moss also spoke about not believing she was photogenic when she was younger, being painted for a portrait by British artist Lucian Freud, and the quiet life she lives in the countryside.
Moss took part in the parade during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebration.
Meeting with a former member of the Beatles
Among the anecdotes Moss mentioned on the show Desert Island DiscsKate was Christmas shopping with Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull, when she saw the former member of the band The Beatles George Harrison through a showcase.
“He came out of the store and said, ‘Is that you? Is that Kate Moss?'”
“I said, ‘Yes, it’s me. Are you George Harrison?’ and he said, ‘Come in, come in, I want to buy you a Christmas present.'”
She wanted to buy him a sweater, but Moss thought it was so ugly that he didn’t accept it, something he came to regret.
“I wish I’d let him buy it for me…it would have been my George Harrison sweater,” she said. “I loved him so much.”
The program Desert Island Discs It is based on the eight essential songs that the invited person would take with them to a desert island.
Kate Moss chose George Harrison’s 1970 hit as her favourite. my sweet lord. “[La canción] was re-released the week she died and I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.
“I thought, ‘what’s happening to me?’ It was so sad, but I couldn’t stop crying and I found out I was pregnant with Lila. So that’s my song with her and for George.”
