Kate Moss: From a 15‑Year‑Old Run‑Away to a Model‑Industry Mentor
Picture this: the future supermodel Kate Moss, just 15 years old, gets a call from a photographer in an underwear catalog and is asked to take off not only her top but her bra. The kid’s feeling both shy and utterly offended – and she runs. That, folks, is how her early runway nightmare began.
The Tummy‑Tripping Incident
- Scouted on a flight (NYC London) at age 14.
- Photographer: “Take your top off.” (yes, she did… for a moment).
- Then: “Take your bra off.” She felt something was off.
- Result? She packed up her stuff and scattered.
Even though the experience left her shaken, Moss says it sharpened her instincts. “Now I can spot a bad ‘un from a mile away,” she laughs.
Beat‑down at The Face
At 16, Kate graced the pages of THE FACE. But the shoot with photographer Corinne Day was less poetry and more painful reality.
“I cried a lot,” Kate confessions on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “If you don’t take your top off, I’m not booking you for Elle.” Corinne was a friend, but the tension was lethal. She snips a line telling her sheepishly, “If you don’t want to take your top off, I’m not gonna book you for Elle.”
Despite the tears, the images were iconic. Moss acknowledges the creativity at the cost of her comfort. “It was painful because she was my best friend and I really loved her, but she was a very tricky person to work with. But the pictures are amazing: she got what she wanted, and I suffered for them.”
Marks, Madness & Calvin Klein
Two years later, Moss joined Mark Wahlberg (then a.k.a. Marky Mark) on a Calvin Klein underwear shoot. “I took Valium before the shoot to ease my nerves at going topless,” she admits, “because I felt vulnerable and scared.”
When asked about being objectified:
- “Completely. And vulnerable and scared.”
- The model felt the industry wove her youth & innocence into a marketing potion.
“…Calvin” turned everything into his own show,” she adds, describing him as “very macho” and all about his own ego.
Running the Agency & Passing Down Wisdom
Fast forward to 2016 – Kate launches her own modelling agency. She insists every model has a loyal pair of hands at every shoot to avoid the missteps of her own past.
Now, she’s coaching her 19‑year‑old daughter Lila. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. 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.”
Letterbox and kissing implicitly note automatically 11 figures female sexual harrassment. A strong admission to always be on the sidelines and only must use that.
A Career That Grows Beyond The Early Fear
Kate Moss’s story doesn’t end with a runaway. Where she faced vulnerability she learned to shield herself and later guard newer generation. The case becomes a crazy pattern of transformation & empowerment.
