Kate Moss’s Zara assortment reviewed by SHANE WATSON: Why her new capsule assortment brings some actual supermodel sparkle to the High Street

What do you think of when you think of Kate Moss? Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels? Her Cosmoss wellness range? The ‘Get the London Look’ Rimmel ads?

No. When you think of Kate Moss you think of her clothes – off duty and on the red carpet – and you think of parties: flashbulbs popping outside nightclubs, stepping out of black cabs, swinging through the doors of The Dorchester, or outside the Met Bar. Wall-to-wall parties stretching from her earliest outings in that silvery see-through slip dress back in 1993, to the black lace long dress under a satin cape she wore for her 50th birthday party in Paris this year.

Kate Moss is a fashion icon but she is, first and foremost, the poster woman for partying with style.

You have to love a party and be invited to all the best ones to know how to dress for them and Kate was there, or she was giving them.

So, the long awaited new collaboration between the High Street giant Zara and Kate Moss — with input from her long-term ally, the legendary stylist Katy England — that focuses on party classics just in time for the Christmas party season, is causing a lot of excitement, to put it mildly.

The capsule collection is ‘inspired by favourites from her covetable, lovingly curated archives’, words that are music to the ears of anyone who follows Kate’s style. We don’t want new and groundbreaking, we want Kate’s style, tweaked for this moment in time because that’s her skill. Always classic with a contemporary edge.

Someone has already had the bright idea of plundering Kate’s wardrobe and getting her to design a collection for the High Street. That was, of course, TopShop back in 2007 and as you may remember it was a crowd-pulling, rip-roaring success with Kate appearing in the window of the flagship store on Oxford Street and that short vintage-style print tea dress changing hands for ten times the price within days.

Kate went on to do 14 collections for TopShop (the last one was in 2014) and some of the clothes are still changing hands online – a silver flapper dresses is currently listed on eBay for £1,157!

There were party pieces in those collections, but they were more cruises around the Greatest Hits of Kate’s wardrobe, as was her 2015 collaboration with Mango. A decade later, this collection cuts to the chase – Party Kate – and that’s what gives it cross-generational appeal.

Kate’s iconic evening looks over the years – whether a slick satin blazer (there’s one in the new collection) or a long, bias-cut floral print tea dress (again, it’s in there) have a different kind of wearability from the rest of her wardrobe. A leopard jacket (yes, worry not) slung over a slinky black frock; something sequin under a velvet cape (there’s a swooshy black cape, naturally)… these are looks that have worked for generations of glamorous It Women and that we can all buy into, whatever age we are.

And who better than Kate, now 50, the most stylish Brit in memory and the ultimate party girl (despite now being sober) to deliver the goods for the rest of us.

She knows how women want to feel at parties: not girly, not dressy, not done up to the nines, but confident, attractive, sexy, and always ALWAYS glamorous.

If Kate has a getting dressed mantra, it’s probably: ‘Don’t You Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me.’ If she has a look it’s timeless glamour with a rock’n’roll edge.

The reason her style is still an obsession for fashion watchers is because she doesn’t mess with the best – the enduring classics – but she also brings the necessary sprinkling of edge that makes everything look perfect for right now. It’s her unique gift: with a tweak, a sandal, a leopard ballet pump, a cape thrown on over something fairly ordinary, she instantly looks so Right.

You may be thinking: what about the Nineties It Girl Sienna Miller, whose recent party collection for Marks & Spencer, in store now, has been a huge success? Is there room for two Nineties It Girls on the High Street? The answer to that is, yes there is, but for the real deal, and accessibility, my money is on Kate’s party looks.

Sienna Miller has great style; Kate has the style that inspired designers and young women on the street for a couple of decades. She’s simply the best.

As for the best of this 30-piece Zara collection, I’d start with the gold T-bar shoes that are one of those ‘make an outfit’ pairs, which you could put with anything and make it instantly look Kate classy.

The silver sandals and red satin heels are likewise to die for, if you can walk in them. For those who love a leopard-print flat pump, Kate has done those too.

The silvery white satin tuxedo (a nod to one of her inspirations, Hollywood actress Lauren Hutton) is a timeless glamour-fier – elegant and crisply cut – to wear with Zara X Kate Moss wide velvet trousers or the narrower ones if you prefer. Kate’s never abandoned skinny. There’s a black tuxedo in there too, of course. Back in the day Kate might have worn it with shorts and stockings. We can wear ours with trousers or jeans.

A taste of Moss’s wardrobe wouldn’t be truly Kate without her trademark leopard-print jacket, and this one is classic Kate: double breasted peacoat style, with sharp lapels, in a great-looking vintage-feel print that’s instantly raced to the top of the leopard-print charts.

This piece is one of Kate’s favourites, apparently and pretty much guaranteed to be an instant sell-out. Get it while you can. It will make everything look chic and just cool enough.

Moss’s other signature is a strong dose of sensuality. She’s included lots of satin – a matching pale peach blouse and draped skirt – and there’s endless velvet in the collection. A tactile element is all important in putting together her party look.

Naturally, there are pieces in there that are more Lila Moss (her daughter) than most women Kate’s age – among them a silver Lurex split mini-dress (not unlike the one she wore to Glastonbury in 2005 with Hunter wellies), snakeprint shorts and a beaded bra. But that makes it all the more fun for the rest of us.

We can dip a toe in Kate’s world this Christmas, sling her metallic-flecked brocade drummer boy jacket over an old black dress (her personal recommendation for a ‘Christmas party, going for dinner and lending you a bit of sparkle’), or put on a lacy top and trousers and feel like we’ve still got it. Your daughter will be going wild for the leopard-print bra and pants set, to be worn on show a little or a lot. That’s Christmas sorted.

‘Mixing classic cuts with just the right amount of glam to take you through the party season’ is how Moss herself describes the clothes.

And just the right amount is just what Kate is all about.