Kate Moss, who has become one of the most recognized and highest paid supermodels of the nineties, was born in Croydon, Surrey, England, on the 16th of January 1974. Kate's entry into the fashion industry happened in 1988, when Kate and her family were in JFK airport on their way back from a vacation in the Bahamas. The then 14-year-old Kate caught the eye of Sarah Ducas of Storm Agency, who approached Kate. This chance encounter was the launching pad of her hugely successful career.

Before long, she was being photographed at a British seaside resort by Corinne Day for the cover of British magazine The Face. At that time, Amazonian supermodels reigned supreme in fashion and, measuring five feet seven inches tall, Moss stood out from the crowd at castings. Since then, it's obvious that Kate has remained abreast in her modeling career.

Signed with various modeling agencies -- Women in New York; Marilyn in Milan; and Storm in London, to name a few Kate has become one of the most photographed models to date. She has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers. The long list of magazine covers she has graced include Allure and Harper's Bazaar in the US; Arena, Elle and The Face in the UK; as well as the American, British, Australian, Italian, and Brazilian editions of Vogue. Kate has practically become a staple in Calvin Klein ads, such as those for fragrances Obsession, CK Be and CK One. In addition to Calvin Klein ads, she has also appeared in ads for Burberry, Cerruti 1881, De Beers Simple Diamond, Dolce and Gabbana, Gianni Versace, L'Oreal, and Yves Saint Laurent. Kate has also strutted her stuff down the catwalks for such big name designers as Calvin Klein, Chanel and Versace.

She also appeared on the small screen, in a documentary entitled Models Close-Up; French and Saunders, a comedy series on the BBC; MTV's Fashionably Loud as well as Choose or Lose campaign; a British Mercury Mobile Phones ad; and Calvin Klein television ads. In keeping with the tradition of supermodels being cast in music videos such as Linda Evangelista and Helena Christensen, Kate Moss wins the prize for the most music video appearances. She has been in Johnny Cash's "Delia's Gone", Primal Scream's "Kowalski" and Elton John's "The Way You Look Tonight". Just to make Kate's career even more complete, she also appeared in films such as Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped and Christy Turlington's Catwalk. Also leaving her mark in the publishing world, Kate also released a book entitled Kate: The Kate Moss Story, which is a collection of her favorite pictures of none other than herself.

Although Kate's career has been multi-faceted to say the least, not all has been rosy in the story of Kate Moss. Moss has received media scrutiny for her party lifestyle, and drug use. In 2005 British tabloids ran a series of photos that showed Kate using cocaine with rocker Pete Doherty. In the immediate aftermath Moss lost several high profile endorsement deals including H&M and Chanel. Moss was cleared of all drug charges and resumed her modelling career. Ultimately though, the scandal did not dampen Moss' career in fact it may have given her a boost.

Having been romantically linked to fellow partier Johnny Depp for four years, Kate also dated Calvin Klein photographer Mario Sorrenti. Recipient of the VH1 award for model of the year in 1996, Kate Moss is unquestionably one of the most successful, controversial models of the 90's, having earned an income of approximately $10,000 per day. She has consistently been one of the highest paid models in the world.

She has been a genuine trendsetter, earning her place on best-dressed lists by actually dressing herself. Her circle of chic friends includes the designers Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney. She has been painted by Lucien Freud, sculpted by Marc Quinn, and interpreted in a hologram for Alexander McQueen’s runway.

In recent years, Moss has harnessed the power of her own image, and put it to use to market not just fashion houses, but also herself. Aside from modelling, Moss has embarked on numerous ventures, both fashion related and non-fashion related, which include her own clothing line and involvement in musical projects.

Moss has won numerous accolades for her modelling career, in 2007, TIME magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Moss has also been used as inspiration in a large amount of cultural depictions including a £1.5m ($2.8m) 18 carat gold statue was made of Moss in 2008 as part of a British Museum exhibition. She has designed clothing lines for both Topshop and Longchamp, and even trademarked her own font in 2007.

Moss is currently married to Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills. In 2012, she came second on the Forbes top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $9.2 million in one year.