BlackBook Magazine

It’s been a big year already with regard to the canonization of supermodel Kate Moss. And it’s about to get even bigger. Not only are rumors flying that Ms. Moss and her hard-partying London counterparts will inspire a not-yet-written film by the gang behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall, thanks to cast member Russell Brand’s interest in the crew’s socializing and catfights. On top of that, Angela Buttolph's Inside the World’s Most Famous Wardrobe: Kate Moss Style, was released yesterday by Random House. But what about that statue, eh?

Perhaps inspired by Damien Hirst's Sotheby's earnings, this weekend will see a first -- a self-portrait by Kate Moss goes up for auction. The 2005-2006 painting, entitled "Who Needs Blood When You've Got Lipstick," is drawn in, um, lipstick and bears the title inscribed in blood by then-boyfriend (and Babyshambles frontman) Pete Doherty. According to the auction website, the piece was "Bought directly from Pete Doherty's private collection and is accompanied by a receipt in his hand for the sale on a Soho House napkin." He's probably got a sweet markup, since it reportedly only cost him £15.

Supermodel Kate Moss may be bummed about her new singleton status, but she’s definitely got something to celebrate. In November of 2009, Paris’ Les Arts Décoratifs will debut an exhibit dedicated to “the Kate Moss myth.” Did you know that Kate Moss does not in fact exist? Fascinating. No really, the museum’s curator-in-chief told reporters at a press conference yesterday that Moss’ modeling agency has kept archives of “absolutely everything she’s done from the very beginning, including archive material from two decades ago.” Or, in other words: yes, the original, super steamy Calvin Klein ads will be included.

Looks like Miss Kate Moss is one step closer to getting that jet, as Topshop -- home of Kate's fashion line -- may be expanding to China. Topshop boss Sir Phillip Green is rumored to have rented space in the Shanghai Superbrand Mall while eyeing other locations in Beijing and Hong Kong. With China's boom economy and Asia's known love for Western culture, this will be big money for Topshop and Ms. Moss as well. Says a source, "For the Chinese teenager with an eye on Western fashions, Kate Moss is pretty much the coolest person on the planet. Philip Green knows that only too well." Industry flacks guestimate that Moss could make "£15million to £25million" for helping tap such a huge market. Not quite enough to buy a new G650 -- they're $59.5 million -- but getting there.

What makes a supermodel? According to Naomi Campbell, "Models need to earn their stripes -- I just think the term [supermodels] is used a little too loosely." Campbell, who's lucky enough to have arguably earned the title, goes on to say that "Kate Moss is obviously a supermodel but after Gisele, I don't think there's been one." The original crop of supermodels includes Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, and of course, Campbell, who dismisses the new crop of popular models like Agyness Deyn and Hilary Rhoda as unworthy of the supermodel tiara. Easy for her to say, all perched high on her glass stilettos and hurling objects at servants.

Kate Moss, cover girl of September's Vogue, has a lot to say about the Kate Moss brand. The usually press-shy model says, "I like making money ... As long as I have what I need at the time. I am not completely money-orientated." And what Moss needs now is a private jet! Which would explain why she's the face of Stella McCartney, Donna Karen, and Burberry among other brands for the fall ad season. She's one of the top-earning models, making $7.5 million last year thanks to modeling and her ongoing line at TopShop. But after 20 years in the business -- a decade longer than most models' careers -- Moss keeps working at this feverish pace to buy her own jet. She goes on to tell Vogue that the "Kate Express" is to help her travel and promote her TopShop line. Extracurricular stops at St. Tropez and Ibiza will just serve as quick breaks between otherwise business-focused excursions.

The year is 1988. Kate Moss has just been discovered and will soon join the ranks of such supermodels as Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista. Fashion, however neon-and-spandex laden it may be, is represented by uniquely beautiful women trained to strut, smile, and pose their hearts out. Magazine covers, drugstore makeup ads, couture ads, television commercials—the supermodel rules all. They represent and epitomize glamour and chic, and why not? It’s their job, after all.

While these women are not the first supermodels—just ask Janice Dickinson—theirs will later be referred to as “the era of the supermodel,” “the trinity,” “the union.” They are supermodels perfected, following in the stiletto-clad footsteps of Twiggy, Cheryl Tiegs, Beverly Johnson, and before them Lisa Fonssagrives. Moss will become revolutionary in no time, becoming the shortest model to do runway and the face of the heroin-chic movement that will make the 1990s as seedy-glam as any scene out of Warhol’s factory. Over the next two decades she will represent Calvin Klein, Chanel, Rimmel, Burberry, a top-shelf model representing top-shelf designers.