By Brandis Ohlsson

 

In an industry made up entirely of individual’s opinions, there seems to be one truth, that rarely falters, and that is, that Kate Moss is queen. My opinion on the matter would not be the popular one.

Many believe that Kate Moss was scouted and then immediately shot to stardom with the Calvin Klein campaign- it didn’t quite work that way. Everyone knows Kate Moss is small (more on that later!) and even the team at Calvin Klein had their doubts. But alas, she booked, and any fan girl or boy knows the rest of the story

Now a few things about the fashion industry- people hate you, until they love you. Lets take for instance, Kim Kardashian. The fashion industry wouldn’t touch Kardashian with a 10 ft. pole a couple of years ago, and now she’s a Balmain darling and front and center at all the best shows. In a way, the same could be said for Kate Moss- Calvin Klein took a chance, and like lemmings, the world followed.

Don’t get me wrong- in her day; Kate Moss had an absolutely beautiful face. But more importantly, she’s an incredible businesswoman who is clearly very smart. These are the things that Kate Moss should be hailed for- a woman in her 40’s who has the brains to keep herself relevant, without pulling a Madonna and showing up on red carpets with her ass hanging out. Kate Moss has managed to transcend age not with her beauty, but with the ability to evolve from tabloid fodder to mogul.

So why the disdain for Queen Moss? I kid- I really care much less than that.

It is common knowledge that models are tall women. And Kate Moss, is very small. She is officially listed at 5’7” but in reality, that’s probably pushing it. To Kate’s credit, she has single handedly inspired every girl 5’7” and under to believe that they too, can be a model. I have heard the argument more times than I can count. “If Kate Moss can do it, so can I.” Well, no, you probably can’t.

Kate Moss is the product of a moment of decision- one that completely changed her life and people’s perception of the modeling industry. The team at Calvin Klein took a chance on a tiny girl with a great face- and it paid off. And when Calvin loved her, the industry followed. And now I spend every day having to explain to model wannabes that no, they’re probably not going to be models, and no, it doesn’t matter that you prefer print to runway because you’re short and in model-land, 5’9” is tiny.