Kate Moss has recalled being the target of misconduct by a male photographer during a photoshoot when she was 15 years old.
The British model, now 48, said during an appearance on Desert Island Discs that she had “run away” from a photography session for a bra catalogue after the unnamed man asked her to be topless.
Kate, who signed to Storm modelling agency in 1988, told the BBC Radio 4 programme she would go on her own to castings across London, armed with an A to Z book.
Kate Moss
Recounting the incident, she said: “I had a horrible experience for a bra catalogue. I was only 15 probably and he said ‘take your top off’ and I took my top off. And I was really shy then about my body.
“And he said ‘take your bra off’ and I could feel there was something wrong so I got my stuff and I ran away.
“I think it sharpened my instincts. I can tell a wrong ’un a mile away.”
The fashion icon also spoke about the 1990 shoot that made her famous, but admitted revisiting the memory was “painful”.
The late photographer Corinne Day, who Kate often worked with, shot a series of photographs of her for The Face magazine on the beach at Camber Sands, East Sussex, when she was 16.
“That scrunched up nose that is on the cover, she would say, ‘snort like a pig’ to get that picture,” Kate recalled.
“And I would be like, ‘I don’t want to snort like a pig’ and she would be like, ‘Snort like a pig, that’s when it looks good’.”
Kate Moss made her modelling debut on the cover of The Face
She revealed how she had “cried a lot” during the shoot because she did not feel comfortable being “naked”.
She said: “I didn’t want to take my top off. I was really, really self-conscious about my body and she would say, ‘If you don’t take your top off I am not going to book you for Elle’ and I would cry.
“It is quite difficult (to take myself back there). It is painful because she was my best friend and I really loved her – but she was a very tricky person to work with.
“But you know, the pictures are amazing so she got what she wanted and I suffered for them, but in the end they did me a world of good really. They did change my career.”
Kate also recalled shooting an underwear campaign for Calvin Klein in 1992 with the actor Mark Wahlberg, who was then known as Marky Mark.
It was her first major advertising campaign but Kate recalled taking Valium to ease her anxiety before the shoot and feeling “vulnerable and scared” when she was required to be topless during it.
Kate said she had passed lessons about the modelling industry on to her 19-year-old daughter Lila, who she manages through her agency.
Kate Moss
“I have said to her you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” she said.
“If you don’t want to do this shoot, if you don’t feel comfortable, if you don’t want to model, don’t do it.
“I take care of my models. I make sure they are with agents at shoots so when they are being taken advantage of, there is someone there to say ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate’.
“I don’t know if that’s across the board but that’s what I can do.”
Desert Island Discs will be on Radio 4 at 11.15am on Sunday and on BBC Sounds.
The British model, now 48, said during an appearance on Desert Island Discs that she had “run away” from a photography session for a bra catalogue after the unnamed man asked her to be topless.
Kate, who signed to Storm modelling agency in 1988, told the BBC Radio 4 programme she would go on her own to castings across London, armed with an A to Z book.
Recounting the incident, she said: “I had a horrible experience for a bra catalogue. I was only 15 probably and he said ‘take your top off’ and I took my top off. And I was really shy then about my body.
“And he said ‘take your bra off’ and I could feel there was something wrong so I got my stuff and I ran away.
“I think it sharpened my instincts. I can tell a wrong ’un a mile away.”
The fashion icon also spoke about the 1990 shoot that made her famous, but admitted revisiting the memory was “painful”.
The late photographer Corinne Day, who Kate often worked with, shot a series of photographs of her for The Face magazine on the beach at Camber Sands, East Sussex, when she was 16.
“That scrunched up nose that is on the cover, she would say, ‘snort like a pig’ to get that picture,” Kate recalled.
“And I would be like, ‘I don’t want to snort like a pig’ and she would be like, ‘Snort like a pig, that’s when it looks good’.”
She revealed how she had “cried a lot” during the shoot because she did not feel comfortable being “naked”.
She said: “I didn’t want to take my top off. I was really, really self-conscious about my body and she would say, ‘If you don’t take your top off I am not going to book you for Elle’ and I would cry.
“It is quite difficult (to take myself back there). It is painful because she was my best friend and I really loved her – but she was a very tricky person to work with.
“But you know, the pictures are amazing so she got what she wanted and I suffered for them, but in the end they did me a world of good really. They did change my career.”
Kate also recalled shooting an underwear campaign for Calvin Klein in 1992 with the actor Mark Wahlberg, who was then known as Marky Mark.
It was her first major advertising campaign but Kate recalled taking Valium to ease her anxiety before the shoot and feeling “vulnerable and scared” when she was required to be topless during it.
Kate said she had passed lessons about the modelling industry on to her 19-year-old daughter Lila, who she manages through her agency.
“I have said to her you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” she said.
“If you don’t want to do this shoot, if you don’t feel comfortable, if you don’t want to model, don’t do it.
“I take care of my models. I make sure they are with agents at shoots so when they are being taken advantage of, there is someone there to say ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate’.
“I don’t know if that’s across the board but that’s what I can do.”
Desert Island Discs will be on Radio 4 at 11.15am on Sunday and on BBC Sounds.
