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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

15


As many of you may know I have long been involved in a love affair with Kate Moss.  I love her face and how she photographs, and I love her amazing and fresh sense of personal style.

This one sided romance began in the early 90's when I was in still elementary school, not yet five feet tall, dressed mostly in Limited Too, Old Navy, and Mervyn's brand clothing, and constantly pouring over any fashion magazine I could get my hands on (I begged my mother for a subscription to W... she said No).  These were the years of the infamous and incredibly controversial Calvin Klein ad campaigns headed by Kate Moss.  I had the cK Be shot of her with her arms crossed (you can see it on the sidebar to the left) torn out of a magazine, up on my wall for years.

I always considered those images from her years with Calvin Klein as sort of the jumping off point for Kate Moss 101, that is until this year when I saw the images in the editorial posted below - the ones that would lead to Kate's introduction to Calvin Klein, and the tremendously successful career that would follow.

  

'15' by Corrine Day

The editorial appeared in British cult magazine "The FACE", in 1990, when Kate was fifteen years old.  Styled by Melanie Ward. 


   

Through her photographs and direction Day introduced the 'imperfect' model; awkward, coltish -  a vast departure from the dominant trend in fashion photography - larger than life Cindy Crawford/Linda Evangelista/Naomi Campbell-type supermodels photographed glossy and saturated in exotic locations - redefining the genre and ushering in a new generation of photographers, stylists, and models.
The pho­tographs were taken on Cam­ber Sands in Eng­land, a tra­di­tional sea­side resort, and were aston­ish­ing for their raw, ver­ité feel; an anti­dote to the glossy Vogue super­models... It’s dif­fi­cult to over emphasize how influ­en­tial this story was at the time - Liberty London Girl

   

The incredibly influential (and controversial) French art and creative director Fabien Baron saw the images and consequentially introduced Kate to Calvin Klein; launching their relationship and Kate's career.

   


   
Kate: I was just having a laugh. Corinne just wanted to bring out everything that I hated when I was 15.  My bow legs, the mole on my breast, the way I laughed.
(Gimpel Fils press release via I am Fashion)




Readers, how do you feel about this set?  Do you love it like I do, or maybe find it unsophisticated or inappropriate?  

I think that last picture is one of the cutest things I've ever seen; and I find it so interesting to learn about the beginning and subsequent evolution of a career like Kate's, and how influential the behind the scenes actors really are, and how influential one editorial can be.

Have wonderful Wednesdays mes poupées! xo Caitlin




15 by Corrine Day, images/info sourced via Corrine Day, LibertyLondonGirl, and I am Fashion

4 comments:

Emma said...

little worrying that they had her topless when she was only 15!
otherwise i like the kate moss with the big freckles x

Evelyne Politanoff said...

one of my favorite model

The Simply Luxurious Life said...

She is a true beauty that is for sure and I swear she doesn't age. Lucky lady. =)

Christina said...

So beautiful at 15, and (dare I say it?) even more so at 36.

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