‘I was only 15 probably’
Supermodel Kate Moss has detailed how she was asked to go topless for a photoshoot at 15 while also speaking to wider issues in the fashion community.
After signing with Storm Modelling Agency in 1998, Moss steadily became the face of British fashion, scoring contracts with everyone from Levi’s to Chanel, H&M to Burberry. But the Croydon-born model developed a “sharpened” instinct after grappling with a photographer’s demand to shoot topless.
“I was only 15 probably and he said: ‘Take your top off’,” the 48-year-old told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs programme. “I took my top off, and I was really shy then about my body, and he said ‘take your bra off’ and I could feel there was something wrong so I got my stuff and I ran away.”
In 1992, Moss shot her first major advertising campaign for Calvin Kelin alongside emerging actor Mark Whalberg. The images are still referenced today, and Whalberg would build off that immediate sex appeal for decades to come.
While the photoshoot is iconic, the reality for Moss was far from magical. She was prescribed Valium before the shoot to help with her nerves and told the BBC that the topless images made her feel “vulnerable and scared.”
Such experiences have given Moss a sixth sense of sorts, able to identify the “wrong ‘uns” a mile away.
Moss now runs a modelling agency herself, with her own daughter Lila, 19, on her books. Lila’s father is Jefferson Hack, the Creative Director and co-founder of Dazed Media.
“I’ve said to her you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” she said. “If you don’t want to do this shoot, if you don’t feel comfortable, if you don’t want to model, don’t do it.”
Moss also referenced her testimony at Johnny Depp’s million-dollar defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, 36. The 58-year-old Dark Shadows actor was suing his ex-partner over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post that insinuated he was a domestic abuser. Depp was ultimately victorious and was awarded damages of $10.4m
Moss’ testimony came fairly late in the trial and took many by surprise.
“I know the truth about Johnny. I know he never kicked me down the stairs. I had to say that truth,” she told the BBC.
Related Links:
- Johnny Depp and Kate Moss ‘reunited’ at second performance in London with Jeff Beck
- Kate Moss denies Amber Heard claim that Johnny Depp pushed her down staircase in Jamaica
- Kate Moss’ sister Lottie Moss reveals she has ‘really bad’ coke addiction after checking into rehab
