Kate Moss reveals the ‘awful abuse’ she received from anorexic girls’ parents over her infamous ‘heroin chic’ look in the nineties… and the one comment she regrets making about it

It was the look that made Kate Moss famous: pale skin, slicked-back hair and – infamously – an extremely thin figure.

Now the supermodel has revealed how much criticism she’s received for her ‘heroin chic’ style.

The 50-year-old, who became a figurehead for the trend in the 1990s, said people stopped her on the street and accused her of promoting eating disorders.

She said in a new Disney+ documentary: “Parents would come up to me and say, ‘My daughter has anorexia.’ It was horrible.

“I think it’s just because I was skinny, and people weren’t used to seeing skinny. But if I had been a little bit fuller, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. It’s just that my body shape was different than the models before me.”

The 50-year-old, who became a figurehead for the trend in the 1990s, said people stopped her on the street and accused her of promoting eating disorders (pictured with Naomi Campbell in 1993)

The look became popular after the then 19-year-old posed in lingerie for the June 1993 issue of Vogue.

Describing the shoot with photographer Corinne Day, Ms. Moss said: “I just felt really good. The whole shoot I felt really comfortable, I loved doing the images. You know, it wasn’t glamorous. It was in my apartment in London.”

‘Our bedroom was like a bedsit. That’s the kind of fashion I liked. It was much simpler.’

Reflecting on the negative reaction to the original photo, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in west London, fashion editor Catherine Kasterine told the documentary: ‘The public wasn’t ready for it. They were completely shocked.

‘The photos were immediately completely vilified and criticized. Perhaps we underestimated how normal that look had been in our minds.’

Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour said: ‘That look – a model who looked very malnourished – made people uncomfortable.

‘A lot of us at Vogue were concerned about heroin chic or anorexia, all the things that were associated with that look. It was reaching a fever pitch. I can remember physically being in the White House when the Clinton administration was addressing the issue.’

Ms Day, who died in 2010 from a brain tumour, discovered Ms Moss at the age of 14 after seeing a Polaroid of her.

She said in a new Disney+ documentary: ‘Parents would come to me and say, “My daughter is anorexic.” It was horrible’ (pictured in 1995 at a Gucci show for Milan Fashion Week)

Describing the Croydon-born schoolgirl as a “beauty”, she added: “There was something very ordinary about her too. Her hair was a bit unkempt and without make-up she just looked like the girl next door.

“I encouraged her to be natural. I would chat with her and then take the pictures during the conversation.”

After appearing on the cover of The Face magazine in 1990, Moss appeared in campaigns for Levi’s and Calvin Klein.

Two years later, she caused controversy when she posed topless with then-rapper Mark Wahlberg in an ad for Calvin Klein jeans.

She told the documentary: ‘It was quite overwhelming. I was 18, you know, he was a big superstar rapper, and I still felt like a girl from Croydon. They asked me to be topless. There were just a lot of people on set, a lot of men. I felt vulnerable.’

Moss, who has since appeared on 30 covers of Vogue, also infamously said in 2009 that “nothing tastes as good as being thin.”

The fashion icon explains: ‘It’s just that my body shape was different than the models before me’ (photo in June 2024)

She has since tried to distance herself from the comments, which were used by several pro-anorexia websites, claiming they were just a “jingle” her housemate used to say.

The documentary In Vogue: The 90s, which airs from Friday, offers a star-studded look at the fashion industry of the past decade.

The series speaks to former Vogue editors-in-chief, including Edward Enninful, and celebrities including supermodel Naomi Campbell, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Designer Stella McCartney also shows how great her advantage is as the daughter of Beatles star Paul.

Describing her graduation show at Central St Martin’s fashion school in London, Ms. McCartney said: ‘All the other students picked their models, and then they got their sizes. I had sizes, but my sizes were the supermodels.

The documentary In Vogue: The 90s, which opens on Friday, is an all-star look at the fashion industry over the past decade.

“I thought, ‘Everyone’s going to hate me if I do that…’ but life is too short, and they were my friends. Those girls were the hottest girls on the planet. They did every show in every city, and they did a little fashion show at the university, for me. That was amazing.”

Mrs Campbell, who took part in the show, said: ‘I don’t think anyone has ever had a graduation ceremony like it. I’ve never seen a graduate from St Martin’s who had his collection on the front page of every newspaper.’

Ms Moss, who also appeared on the show, said: ‘We were just hanging out in Notting Hill, going to the same bars or restaurants or whatever, and I didn’t know she was a McCartney.

“Then I saw her driving around in a Mercedes and I thought, ‘She’s in college. How can she afford that?’ Then she told me – and then she asked me to do her graduation show.”

Mrs McCartney, 52, said the show had prompted a negative reaction from her fellow students, adding: ‘Like [I was] the child of such famous people, it became a whole drama. I thought, ‘Agghhh, get me out of here.’

Later she took over superstar designer Karl Lagerfeld at fashion house Chloe.

When McCartney heard she would be his successor, he reportedly said, “I knew they were going to get a big name to replace my shoes, but I thought they were going to get a big name from fashion, not music.” She added, “Phew, b****!”

It speaks to former Vogue editors-in-chief including Edward Enninful and celebrities such as supermodel Naomi Campbell

Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour said: ‘That look – a model who looked very malnourished – made people uncomfortable’

Croydon-born Kate was pictured on the catwalk in Paris in 1992

The show also features former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, who revealed she was ‘completely obsessed’ with supermodel Linda Evangelista.

She added: ‘[Ms Evagelista] was the reason I cut my hair, the reason I dyed my hair all kinds of colors. I was in New York and I went to Garren, who was Linda’s hairdresser. And he cut all my hair off. I was able to channel my inner Linda.’

Posh Spice, 50, also shares how fashion brought her and her husband, David Beckham, together.

‘When I first met David in 1997, he’d heard I was the Spice Girl who liked designer clothes,’ she said. ‘So after I’d been to a couple of football games – I’d say I was following him, he’d probably say I was stalking him – we agreed to go on a date.

“He thought, ‘She’s the one who loves designer clothes,’ and so he actually went out and bought a full Prada look for our first date to impress me. And he did.”

Stream In Vogue: The 90s exclusively on Disney+ starting Friday, September 13.