Kate Moss: Now You’re Just Some Body That We Used to Know

This image is no longer available

For a woman as slight as Kate Moss, she always seems to be attached to big controversies. This time around, the British supermodel was caught this summer with her body double—a young beauty named Natalie Morris who is also signed to her modeling agency—while on a London shoot for the shoe label, Stuart Weitzman.

Her double, dubbed “Mosselganger” by the always cheeky Daily Mail, bears a striking resemblance to Moss except that her nipples are pert and her face is free of the lines and creases Moss has acquired throughout the years (having your heart broken by Johnny Depp, partying with rock musicians, chain-smoking like a chimney stack—these experiences would bring character to any woman’s face).

Photos via Daily Mail.

Whether or not Mosselganger was simply a stand-in for lighting, or was used as a replacement for Moss’ real body in the completed ad is still unknown. However, it does raise questions about the act of using a famous name—in name alone.

With the use of airbrushing and retouching, Moss has managed to stay forever young over the last couple of years. Par for the course, many would argue, as the public is well aware now of the smoke-and-mirror tactics used to create the fantastical world of fashion advertising. In her Stuart Weitzman photos she is smooth-skinned, pore-less, and super slim—a far cry from reality.

Kate Moss on vacation, Photos via Daily Mail

Why is this so irking? Because Moss is not just some fly-by-night pretty, she is a globally recognized and profitable brand (runway types have known since the days of savvy Cindy Crawford that you need to build up your name to pay the bills after your youth has faded). And yet, her personal brand is often presented as a falsified version of herself even when her persona is the crux of the entire ad campaign–and such is the case with Stuart Weitzman.

As noted in their recent press release, her revered street style was the creative inspiration for their ads. They wanted to capture “her perfectly imperfect look” and stated that she “exudes a sense of style and confidence that every woman aspires to emulate.” The hypocrisy is obvious and sad.

No one would argue that she isn’t a gorgeous woman today, but as her 40th birthday approaches, time has transformed her body the way it would any woman’s. Why is she always presented as a time-capsuled Kate Moss; a Kate Moss from the past? Is that what we want to see, emulate and aspire to, or is that what we’ve been told we want from the Kate Moss brand?

Unfortunately, now she’s just some body that we used to know.