KATIE HIND: Kate’s weird twitching on the entrance row and why some near her concern she might slip again to her naughty methods…
The snap was taken close to Kate Moss‘s North London home last week, but it wouldn’t have appeared out of place back in the Noughties.
Clutching a bottle of Corona beer last Friday evening, and dragging on a cigarette, the supermodel looked like she was gearing up for a big night. It was just like the old days when she lived up to her nickname ‘The Tank’, coined by her A-list friends because, it was said, she could drink them all under the table.
True, that exquisite face has weathered somewhat and her jeans, which she matched with a black blazer, were of a more matronly cut than the spray-on skinnies, but for Kate-watchers, it was like travelling back in time.
Back to the era when Kate, now 51, was the lynchpin of the infamous Primrose Hill set, and partied alongside the likes of Davinia Taylor, Sadie Frost, Jude Law and Pearl Lowe.
That came to an end eight years ago when she transformed her life, swapping vodka and booze-fuelled gigs for green juices and yoga sessions – and even launched her own wellness brand.
Those around the Croydon-born beauty were so proud and relieved, I’m told.
Kate Moss was spotted last week channelling the spirit of her wild party days with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Corona beer in the other
Fans noticed Moss’s strange behaviour at Paris Fashion Week at the Isabel Marant show
Today however, some close to Kate, are concerned. One source tells me: ‘Kate did so well to give up alcohol. She found a whole new life for herself and seemed very content and happy.
‘Those who love her worried about her when she was caning it, but then she stopped. Nobody wants her to go back to where she was but enough has happened recently to prompt those worries.’
Indeed, what the friend refers to is an incident that took place at Paris Fashion Week just days before Kate’s outing in London last Friday. A clip shared across social media site TikTok showed the supermodel – famously discovered at JFK airport aged 14 by Sarah Doukas, of Storm Management – sitting in the front row of French designer Isabel Marant’s show.
Dressed in a black leather jacket and miniskirt, the clip shows her jerking, bizarrely, from side to side while talking to a man next to her, and then turning to a woman behind.
When she realised the camera was on her, she turned back round and began frantically posing. While no one knows the reason for her behaviour, the video quickly went viral, with fans and friends expressing their concerns.
‘It was definitely not how Kate usually behaves in public,’ said one fashion insider. ‘Say what you like about how she has behaved during a night out, but when she’s working she’s a total pro.’
Kate was in Paris to cheer on her daughter Lila, 22, who has modelled in multiple shows including for Yves Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney. She was later seen arriving at Zoe Kravitz’s home in the French capital with stains down her black tuxedo style jumpsuit – a far cry from the pulled-together look one expects from a supermodel.
However, the dramatic events in Kate’s life lately might explain the upset to her equilibrium.
Three months ago she split from her 38-year-old photographer boyfriend Nikolai von Bismarck. They are said to have parted ways last December, after nine years together, amid claims that their ‘different approaches to life caused friction’.
The photo was something of a flashback to Moss’s party days. Pictured at Glastonbury Festival in 2005
Moss watches Pete Doherty at Glastonbury Festival in 2007
When she moved out of the London house they shared, Nikolai reportedly said he wanted a quieter life, prompting speculation that Kate is not ready to stay at home in her slippers just yet.
Sources say Nikolai, who has been sober since 2017, was a huge support to Kate as she, too, eschewed alcohol. But now insiders say his family worry she might be slipping back into old habits. Then there’s her other ex, Jefferson Hack – father of Lila – who announced this week that he is expecting a child with his wife, model Anna Cleveland.
Jefferson, the CEO of Dazed Media, began dating Kate in 2001 after interviewing her for the magazine. They split two years after Lila was born in 2002, but remained on good terms as co-parents. He married model Anna in 2023 and this week, she proudly showed off her 36-week baby bump on Instagram’
And although Kate hasn’t commented on the impending arrival, it’s fair to assume that seeing the father of her child go on to start a family with someone else, when she once more finds herself single, must be discombobulating.
Not that Kate is a stranger to the vicissitudes of love.
From 2005 to 2007 she embarked on a disastrous romance with singer Pete Doherty, frontman of rock band Babyshambles.
Pete made no secret of his heroin habit, he even once revealed how he’d smuggled ‘hard drugs’ into Japan in the grip of addiction. While accompanying Pete to a recording session at a West London music studio, she was videoed snorting cocaine.
A huge scandal erupted and Kate lost many lucrative modelling contracts, and brands such as H&M and Burberry felt forced to walk away from their tarnished ambassador.
Only three years ago while appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs did Kate directly address the scandal. ‘I was quite angry because everybody I knew took drugs. So for them to focus on me, and to try to take my daughter away, I thought it was hypocritical.’
Although she never did lose custody of Lila, she did continue to party hard. In June 2015, she was escorted off an easyJet flight at Luton airport by police because she had allegedly become disruptive.
For her, it was the ultimate shame and two years later she decided to sober up. She even claimed to have scaled back on smoking. And in 2022 she launched her wellness brand, Cosmoss, selling her own range of teas and skincare products.
Her products continue to be sold in stores such as Fenwick and Liberty, but it seems not without financial difficulties. A notice has been filed against the firm at Companies House, due to overdue accounts. Kate’s team have a few weeks to get the figures in, before facing strike-off.
It’s not known if this is still the case: a company spokesman did not respond when the Mail asked yesterday for clarification on the current situation.
It’s not the first sign of trouble, as the wellness brand reportedly owed lenders more than £405,000 in April last year.
In happier news, her talent company, the Kate Moss Agency – which represents Lila, among others – is still deemed a success.
As one source put it: ‘Her friends just hope she is OK. She did so well to turn things around and move herself away from all of the drama. What a shame it would be if her transformation went backwards.’
