It was the look that made Kate Moss famous: pale skin, slicked-back hair and, famously, an extremely thin physique.
Now the supermodel has revealed the abuse she suffered for her “heroin chic” aesthetic.
The 50-year-old, who became the poster girl for the trend in the Nineties, said people would approach her in the street and accuse her of promoting eating disorders.
In a new Disney+ documentary, she said: “Parents would come up to me and say, ‘My daughter is anorexic.’ It was horrible.”
“I think it was because I was skinny and people weren’t used to seeing skinny people. But if I had been more voluptuous, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. It’s just that my body shape was different from the models who came before me.”
It was the look that made Kate Moss famous. Now the supermodel has revealed the abuse she suffered for her “heroin chic” aesthetic
The 50-year-old, who became the poster girl for the trend in the Nineties, said people would approach her in the street and accuse her of promoting eating disorders (pictured with Naomi Campbell in 1993).
The look became popular after the 19-year-old posed in lingerie for the June 1993 issue of Vogue.
Describing the shoot with photographer Corinne Day, Ms Moss said: “I felt really good. I felt really comfortable throughout the shoot, I loved creating the images. You know, it wasn’t anything glamorous. It was in my flat in London.”
“Our bedroom was like a studio. That was the style I liked. It was much simpler.”
Reflecting on the negative reaction to the original photo, which now hangs in the Victoria and Albert Museum in west London, fashion editor Catherine Kasterine told the documentary: “The public was not prepared. They were absolutely horrified.
“Immediately, the images were completely vilified and criticized. Perhaps we had underestimated that such an appearance was something normal in our minds.”
Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour said: ‘That look – a model looking very malnourished – made people feel uncomfortable.
“A lot of us at Vogue were worried about heroin chic or anorexia, all the things that are associated with that look. It got to the point where it reached a fever pitch. I remember being physically in the White House when the Clinton administration addressed the issue.”
Ms Day, who died of a brain tumour in 2010, discovered Moss at the age of 14 after seeing a Polaroid of her.
He described the Croydon-born schoolgirl as a “beauty” and added: “There was also something quite ordinary about her. Her hair was a bit unkempt and without make-up she looked like the girl next door.
“I encouraged her to be natural. I would talk to her and then take the photos in the middle of the conversation.”
In a new Disney+ documentary, she said: “Parents would come up to me and say, ‘My daughter is anorexic. ’ It was horrible” (pictured in 1995, walking in a Gucci show for Milan Fashion Week).
After appearing on the cover of The Face magazine in 1990, Moss appeared in campaigns for Levi’s and Calvin Klein.
Two years later she sparked controversy when she posed topless with then-rapper Mark Wahlberg in a Calvin Klein jeans ad.
She told the documentary: “It was quite overwhelming. I was 18, he was a huge superstar rapper and I still felt like a girl from Croydon. I was asked to be topless. There were a lot of people on set, a lot of men. I felt vulnerable.”
Ms Moss, who has since appeared on 30 Vogue covers, also infamously joked in 2009 that “nothing tastes as good as feeling thin”.
She has since attempted to distance herself from the comments, which were used by several pro-anorexia websites, claiming they were simply a “little ditty” her housemate used to say.
The documentary In Vogue: The 90s, which begins streaming on Friday, is a star-studded look at the fashion industry during the decade.
She speaks to former Vogue editors including Edward Enninful and celebrities including supermodel Naomi Campbell, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker.
Also featured is designer Stella McCartney, who revealed the advantage she had as the daughter of Beatles star Paul.
Describing her graduation show at London’s Central St Martin’s fashion school, McCartney recalled: “All the other students would choose their models and then get their friends. I had friends, but my friends were the supermodels.
The fashion icon explained: ‘It’s just that my body shape was different from the models who came before me’ (photo from June 2024)
The documentary In Vogue: The 90s, which begins streaming on Friday, is a star-studded look at the fashion industry during the decade.
“I was like, ‘Everyone’s going to hate me if I do that…’ but life is too short and they were really my friends. Those girls were the cutest girls on the planet. They were in every runway show in every city and they did a little college fashion show for me. It was amazing.”
Ms Campbell, who attended the event, said: “I don’t think anyone has ever had a graduation like this. I’ve never seen a St Martin’s graduate with their collection on the front page of every newspaper.”
Ms Moss, who also took part in the show, said: ‘We were hanging out in Notting Hill, going to the same bars or restaurants or whatever, and I didn’t know she was a McCartney.
“Then I saw her driving a Mercedes and I thought, ‘She’s in college. How can she afford that? ‘ So she told me and asked me to do her graduation show.”
McCartney, 52, said the show sparked a backlash from fellow students, adding: “Because I was the daughter of such famous people, it became such a drama. I was like, ‘Ugh, get me out of here.'”
She later replaced superstar designer Karl Lagerfeld at the fashion house Chloe.
After learning she would be his successor, McCartney claimed he said: “I knew they were going to hire someone big to take my place, but I thought they were going to hire someone big in the fashion world, not the music world.” He added: “Ugh, b***h!”
The show also features former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, who revealed she was “completely obsessed” with supermodel Linda Evangelista.
She added: ‘(Ms. Evagelista) was the reason I cut my hair, the reason I dyed my hair a lot of different colors. I was in New York and I went to see Garren, who was Linda’s hairdresser. When she cut all my hair off, I was channeling my inner Linda.’
She talks to former Vogue editors including Edward Enninful and celebrities including supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour said: “That look, a model looking very malnourished, made people feel uncomfortable.”
Croydon-born Kate pictured on the catwalk in Paris in 1992
Posh Spice, 50, also reveals how fashion brought her and husband David Beckham together.
“When I met David in 1997, he’d heard I was the Spice Girl who liked designer clothes,” she said. “So after I went to a couple of football games (I’d say I was stalking him, he’d probably say I was stalking him), we agreed to go out together.
“He thought, ‘She’s the one who likes designer clothes,’ and so he went out and bought a whole Prada look for our first date to impress me. And he did.”
Stream In Vogue: The 90s exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, September 13.
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