40 years of Kate

w. painter Lucian Freud before his death

w. Marc Jacobs and Justin Timberlake

w. Johnny Depp by Annie Leibovitz

w. Johnny Depp

w. Johnny Depp at Cannes

w. Gianni Versace

w. Pete Doherty

— Kate Moss. January 16, 1974

In 1990 Kate Moss was a 16 years old schoolgirl and Corine Day was a wannabe photographer, looking for an unknown adolescent model with whom she could work on something fresh. After looking through a pile of portfolios in an agency one day she came across fourteen year old Kate Moss, sought her out, and became her friend. They did photographs in back yards and sitting rooms until, one day in 1990 when the young model was fifteen, they went to Camber Sands to do a session.

When the images they caught that day appeared in style bible The Face (No. 22 / July 1990 / The 3rd Summer of Lov3), they gave birth to the “grunge look” or “junkie chic”. Those Camber Sands images are generally thought to have changed the course of fashion photography. Day said that:  

“The “grunge look” as people called my style, simply showed girls as they really are, without make-up, styled hair, and flattering light”.

Source: Outsideleft.com 

And that's why I like so much Kate's 90s editorials. She looks natural and spontaneous, the face of youth. I'm also fascinated with her chameleonic looks, the way she manages to look in one editorial all chic, British ladylike, while in others she has that raw, rebel, rock style. I don't talk much about fashion in here, but there is something really special on Kate's photographs. She's worked with some of my favorite photographers, those that have created a style, besides working with great fashion magazines. Like Roversi, von Unwerth, Slimane, Corinne Day, McGinley, Leibovitz or Teller. 

I also appreciate her "musical side" since she has collaborated with some of my favorite musicians. Moss appeared on Oasis singles "Don't Go Away" (1998) and "Fade Away" (1994), and on the Be Here Now album (1997), playing tambourine. She also appeared on the videoclips "Delia's Gone" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash, on the Primal Scream video for "Kowalski" and in "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" by The White Stripes directed by Sofia Coppola. She has also provided vocals for songs by Primal Scream (the 2003 version of "Some Velvet Morning"), Babyshambles ("La Belle et la Bête") and The Lemonheads ("You're a Dirty Robot"). And prior to breaking up with Pete Doherty, she co-wrote four songs on Babyshambles' second album Shotter's Nation. 

Happy Birthday to her. And you know what they say: Kate Moss will live forever.

Ph.: Bruce Weber, Hedi Slimane, Paolo Roversi, Ellen von Unwerth, Craig McDean, Corinne Day, Ryan McGinley, Sante D'Orazio, Annie Leibovitz, Juergen Teller, Arthur Elgort, Nick Knight, Lance Staedler and Mario Testino. 

Girl from the north country

If you're traveling the north country fair

where the winds hit heavy on the borderline

Remember me to one who lives there

For she once was a true love of mine.

If you go when the snowflakes storm

When the rivers freeze and summer ends

Please see if she has a coat so warm

To keep her from the howlin' winds.

Please see if her hair hangs long

If it rolls and flows all down her breast

Please see for me if her hair's hanging long

For that's the way I remember her best.

... So if you're travelin' the north country fair

Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline

Remember me to one who lives there

She once was the true love of mine.

This Dylan song, Girl from the north country, always reminds me of winter, and it's a must listen during this time of the year. Not just because of the lovely lyrics (with references to one of his many lovers on his early twenties, who actually was a girl from a north country), but because it reminds me of past winters when a friend of mine used to play it on his guitar for me. It started one cold evening, six or seven years ago, as we were sitting by the fireplace of his grandparent's old country house, with other friends, and we were listening to The Freewheelin' on a record player. I said I loved this song since I was a little girl and my father used to play the cassette on his car, and he said: "I know how to play it". Then he went to study abroad and this song became a reminder of the good cold winter days we spent together. I know I've talked you about my nostalgia during this time of the year in previous posts, but the nostalgia that comes with these memories is not a sad one. It's that good feeling of knowing that some people will always be there for you, 'cause you have created a very strong bond. And with Christmas just around the corner I have that feeling when I think that I'm going to see him and other friends, and we're gonna have a real good time together, like the days when he used to play  Girl from the north country: long walks through the fields wearing cozy coats and soft wool jumpers, waking up late staying under the flannel sheets, making tea, eating the perfect home-made apple pie with my mother's recipe, and just enjoying the winter as much as one can. As it feels as I'm experiencing the seasonal affective disorder this year, I couldn't love more this Sylvia Plath quote: 

"I must stop identifying with the seasons, because this English winter will be the death of me."

— Sylvia Plath

Hope you have a nice holiday!

Ph.: Kate Moss by Corinne Day, cassoday harder, Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist, marlee banta, soft red interiors, october-glory, cuerposiameses, Anna Karina in Une femme est une femme, soft skin, seaembraces, Angela Lindvall, singing_saw, stuart mckenna,Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan in Never Let Me Go, Françoise Hardy, sandraleone, quentindebriey, possumsednolo, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg