Kate Moss launches modelling agency 'not for pretty people'

Legendary supermodel Kate Moss is launching her own model agency after almost 30 years in the fashion business.

In a rare interview, she told the Business of Fashion website she would be launching the business this month.

Ms Moss left Storm, the agency that discovered her at the age of 14, earlier this year.

She told the website: "I don't really want pretty people... I want to create stars."

"I want to focus more on managing people's careers than just [running] a model agency... I want people that want to sing and dance and act."

The launch coincides with London Fashion Week,

Ms Moss's new business website is up and running and is so fresh off the screen that, as of Monday morning there was only one picture on it.

She has also added a new Instagram account, which again, in its infancy, had gathered 1,000 followers by midday Monday.

 

Lifestyle

Kate Moss has one of the longest-running and most successful modelling careers in the business.

She was first spotted at the age of 14 in 1988 at JFK airport in New York by Sarah Doukas, Storm's founder, and since then has appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine more times than any other model.

As her career took off, her look, waif-like and unpretentious, chimed with the early 1990s rave scene.

In the following years, her ability to straddle all styles, from grunge, through high-street fashion to the most upmarket of brands, ensured she stayed perennially in demand and popular with the public, even as she attempted to keep details of her private life and thoughts to herself.

Despite that, her fame ensured any slips became well-known.

In 2005, she was photographed snorting what appeared to be cocaine by the Daily Mirror newspaper, the subsequent outcry saw her dropped by image conscious clients including Burberry and Chanel.

She took a year off.

Once back fully on the scene, her career carried on at the top of the industry with clients including Dior and took a new turn when she linked up with Top Shop to launch a range of clothes of the type favoured by herself for everyday wear.

She was awarded Model of the Year in 2006 at the British Fashion Awards.

 

'Constant demand'

Her fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at around £100m.

Lucy Baxter, who worked as Ms Moss' booker at Storm, is also joining the new agency.

Imran Amed, editor of the Business of Fashion website, who conducted the interview, said the timing of the launch was good: "It's a really exciting time to launch an agency. The modelling world has traditionally been run by long time agencies and there have been some other boutique agencies in recent years that can offer a more bespoke service to young people."

Modelling agencies are currently managing the transition towards a system where models are increasingly hired for the size of their social media following, and are expected to publicise an advertising campaign during the process of creating and shooting it.

"Modelling is so much about social media, the constant demand for content. Models aren't just walking the runways and appearing in campaigns. They are also managing a constant feed of content through social media and online," says Mr Amed.

Ms Moss' high profile and contacts will be an advantage in establishing the new business, he adds.

As well as the new agency, Ms Moss will be expanding her new lifestyle brand.

Earlier this year she launched a clothing collection with French clothing brand Equipment.

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