It would’ve been difficult for Kate Moss not to have be on trend for the last three decades, given that she’s set half of them. The Croydon-born supermodel, who shot to fame in the 90s and became the face of the decade’s bohemian, grungey aesthetic, has evolved seamlessly into representing the wholesome wellness culture of 2022.
In fact, she’s basically been the face of every decade that she’s been famous — evidenced by her whopping 65 Vogue covers over the years.
Now, Moss, 48, has turned her efforts towards caring for that famous face — and helping you to do it too. This month, she launched her very own beauty brand, Cosmoss, complete with everything from CBD infused serums and herbal teas to £120 “sacred mists”. “It’s more nature, less nightclub,” her stylist and BFF James Brown tells the Evening Standard following the launch.
Indeed, Moss might have been guiding her daughter Lila Moss, 19, into superstardom as fashion’s new It-girl over recent years (the Vogue cover star opened Richard Quinn’s show last Tuesday at London Fashion Week), but her own career is far from slowing down.
The evolution is clear to see. One of Moss’ most infamous looks from her early modelling days was the OG naked dress — a Liza Bruce slip dress that she wore to the Elite modelling agency “Look of the Year” party, in 1993.
In a video breaking down her most iconic looks for Vogue, the supermodel claims she didn’t even know the dress was see-through, or expect it to be splashed across the front pages of newspapers the next day.
“When I went out I didn’t think it was that see-through, but obviously it was,” she says.
This set the tone for much of Kate’s style in the decade to come. “Her early style, particularly thanks to Calvin Klein and his use of her in his decade-defining advertising, is very minimal and she is very much in control of what she is wearing,” says long-time Moss fan and fashion commentator Marcus Jaye, also known at The Chic Geek, who describes Moss’ style as “effortlessly cool”.
“It isn’t wearing her,” he adds. “This is a model allowed to keep what she wants from a shoot or being gifted pieces from designers, while always picking and editing the best items.”
The 90s rolled into the 2000s, and the burgeoning era of heroin chic became fully realised as Moss began dating the only person that could lay claim to this era as much as her: Libertines frontman, Pete Doherty.
This period was responsible for Moss’ more messy, grungey style and a handful of Glastonbury looks that are still used as festival fashion inspo to this day.
In one memorable picture from 2005, Moss can be seen walking side by side with Doherty through the muddy fields on Worthy Farm, wearing a tiny gold glitter lurex dress, harnessed with a “Glastonbury Rocks” belt across her hips, holding only a disposable camera and pack of cigarettes.
It is guaranteed to appear on your Instagram feed at least once a month, and even more regularly if it’s festival season.
Moss’ partying simmered down in the 2010s though, and she became known as the face of large commercial brands, such as Rimmel and Topshop.
Her style turned in the same direction: tailored suits, monochromatic dressing and leather were her go-tos.
Fast-forward over a decade and the model has returned to her boho chic roots for 2022, with the help of BFF Brown. “It’s much softer and calmer,” he tells the Evening Standard. “It comes from being in nature more — it’s more nature, less nightclub.”
This is evident in the branding for Cosmoss — ethereal and earthy, and Kate’s recent outfit choices have reflected this. A recent Cosmoss launch saw the model don a floral puff sleeve dress, which, in classic Kate style, was also entirely sheer.
“It was a nod to the 90s [version of Kate],” Brown divulges. “But it was also Cosmoss — Cosmoss if it ever hit a nightclub.”
Brown, who has witnessed Moss’ style evolution first hand, says her natural understanding of how to dress is almost innate.
“She just knows,” he says. “She knows as you’re walking towards her with an outfit - she looks at it while you’re literally walking across the room, and she can say: ‘That won’t work on me’, or not.
“Think of all the people that have touched her over the years. She could tell a fabric from across the room, she could say ‘That won’t fit my shape’ by just looking at it. She always knows. I’ve learned from the best.”
