Model Kate Moss disputes heroin, anorexia rumors

Model Kate Moss is reflecting on her three-decade career in the latest issue of Allure, sharing everything from what helped her get through scandals to beauty and fashion tips.

“Everyone’s a celebrity. But I’m kind of a celebrity now, so even though I’m not an actress, people know my name. I’m not just a face,” the model said in the magazine’s August issue.

The petite and free-spirited British fashion icon was photographed by Mario Testino, appearing on the beauty guide’s cover for the ninth time.

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“I must be a bit of a blank canvas,” she said. “Or something.”

“At a shoot, I’m really aware of everything,” she said. “When they do makeup, sometimes I can’t see what they’re doing, but I can feel it. I know what I look like, even when I can’t see what they’ve done. I know how to compose myself.”

Moss recently booked back-to-back spokesmodel gigs for Versace and self-tanning products by St. Tropez. But her career spans back much further, to when she rose to popularity as a player in the “heroin chic” fashion era of the 1990s. She became the embodiment of a waif and consequently was often accused of being a heroin addict and suffering from anorexia.

“It was horrible, especially the anorexic thing,” Moss said. “The heroin, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s ridiculous. I know I don’t do heroin. Just because I wear a bit of black eyeliner that’s smudged ....’ But the anorexic thing was a lot more upsetting, to be held responsible for somebody’s illness. I wasn’t anorexic.”

But she was able to get through scandal after scandal with this mantra, taught to her by her ex, Johnny Depp: “Never complain, never explain.”

Her daughter Lila, 10, seems to be following in Moss’ well-heeled footsteps too, given her reenactments of the 2006 fashion dramedy “The Devil Wears Prada” and Meryl Streep’s portrayal of antihero Miranda Priestly, who was based on Vogue editrix Anna Wintour.

“She’s got a desk in her room with a phone,” Moss says of Lila. “She puts a little outfit on and picks up the phone: ‘Hello, Miranda Priestly’s office. Can you hold? Patrick Demarchelier on the line!’ ” Moss said. “I died when I heard her do it. So funny. She doesn’t have a clue who it is, but it’s word for word. She wants to be Anne Hathaway.”

The 39-year-old Moss also admits to having been self-conscious when she first started her career and said she had challenges posing nude.

“I didn’t like my flat chest,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a [boob] job.’ Can you imagine?

“I used to be so scared about ‘Oh, I don’t want to show my body.’ Now that I’ve shown it, it doesn’t bug me about my moles, or ‘This isn’t big enough’ and ‘That’s not smooth enough.’”

She even shares her tanning habits and her husband, musician Jamie Hince’s preferences for her under-bronzed regions.

“I don’t mind a bikini bottom. My husband likes lines on the bum — men like white bums, like a frame,” she added. “I don’t do it on the boobs, though — I try not to have a white boob.”

Aside from her sexually charged tanning tips, the model-turned-designer also explained why it’s important to adapt style to yourself, rather than change yourself to fit a style.

“I try and be a little bit chic,” she said. “I wouldn’t wear sweatpants. I wouldn’t wear a twinset .... With confidence, I think anyone can get a dress and make it their own. I don’t think you should have it off the runway and wear it like they want you to wear it. You know, with their hair and makeup — their woman. I just think it’s boring. You have to make it your own. That’s what fashion is all about.”

Also: “Always clean hair. That’s a must. If in doubt, wash it.”

The full interview hits newsstands July 23.
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