THE FACE THAT CHANGED FASHION

As style icon and supermodel Kate Moss approaches a milestone birthday, we celebrate her incredible and controversial career

- LESLEY JONES

When asked last year how she felt about a very big birthday on the horizon, Kate Moss seemed to be in denial.

“I’m not turning 50,” she said. “No. I’m not thinking about it. I do not feel 50.”

But, like it or not, the “anti-supermodel” and British national treasure reaches her half-century milestone on 16 January. And after she wore a flowing black gown in a rare appearance at the British Fashion Awards last month, it’s fair to say that the Croydon-born fashion goddess has still “got it”.

“Kate has a daring, chameleon-esque charm that transcends trends and, it appears, decades,” said legendary editor of American Vogue, Anna Wintour, of Kate’s enduring appeal. “She is a fashion original who trusts her tastes and acts on her whims, a style innovator with rock-star swagger and uptown polish, just as comfortable in vintage as in couture.”

The superstar has packed a lot into her five full decades. Famously spotted by agency boss Sarah Doukas at JFK Airport in New York when she was only 14, Kate had a breakthrough cover shoot with photographer Corinne Day for style bible The Face that put her on the fashion map.

“It’s easy to forget how important it was after the 80s that Kate didn’t match up to prevailing model standards,” says a former editor of The Face, brand expert Richard Benson.

“It wasn’t just the height; she had freckles, imperfect teeth and was photographed laughing naturally. She had the same interests as everyone else and wasn’t selling some sort of perfect model lifestyle, either.”