New deal for Kate Mo$$

Six months after those pictures, US label Calvin Klein is the latest big name to court the supermodel, increasing her post-Pete Doherty earnings to £9.4m a year

The supermodel Kate Moss is on the verge of signing one of the most lucrative contracts of her career just six months after a cocaine scandal had appeared to end her reign as Britain's most successful model.

Her publicist confirmed yesterday that Moss, 32, is in talks over a deal thought to be worth close to $2.6m (£1.5m) with the US fashion giant Calvin Klein - boosting her earnings to around £9m a year, almost double that before she was photographed snorting cocaine.

She is also likely to be reunited with the fashion house Burberry, which ended her contract following the drug revelations. Then it appeared that Moss, the girl from Croydon who was "discovered" at the age of 14 at JFK airport, was finished.

Pictures of her taking cocaine in a recording studio with her then musician boyfriend Pete Doherty had brought a storm of criticism, leading big-name employers Hennes, Burberry and Chanel to cancel their contracts.

As Moss fled to the United States with her three-year-old daughter, checking herself into a rehab clinic in Arizona, police here launched an investigation - she will hear if she is to face charges for possession of a class A drug this week.

Far from destroying her career, however, the publicity has, if anything, enhanced it. Moss is now earning more than ever before. Her lost contracts have been more than compensated for with multi-million-dollar deals with Longchamps, Bulgari and Virgin mobile - her TV ads boosted sales of Richard Branson's mobile phones by 12 per cent.

She has been voted Britain's most stylish woman by readers of the women's magazine Grazia and this month she is back on the cover of the fashion bible Vogue, appearing in four photo spreads inside in ads for Longchamp, Rimmel, Roberto Cavalli and Stella McCartney. She is also considering launching her own range of products.

Vogue's editor, Alexandra Shulman, said she had no qualms about putting Moss on the cover.

"The fact that she had gone into rehab was relevant," Ms Shulman said. "Of course she sells the magazine, but the fact that she doesn't want to be a car crash was important - kids shouldn't take drugs, and no one believes that more than me.

"The people who buy Vogue don't have a problem, they see that she has made an attempt to clean up her act. It was a huge tabloid story but it was also a huge non-story and not a story that the fashion industry was ever concerned about.

"She is also brilliant at what she does."

The publicist Max Clifford said her new employers would have carried out market research to see if she would hurt or boost their brands. "That's how it works."

Nice Work: The difference a scandal makes

Moss will learn this week if she is to face drugs charges, but her list of lucrative contracts is longer now than it was before the scandal broke

Before:

Rimmel £3m

Burberry £1m

Hennes £1m

Chanel £750,000

TOTAL: £5.75m

After:

Rimmel £3m

Virgin Mobile £1.2m

Longchamps £500,000

Roberto Cavalli £100,000

Bulgari fragrance £100,000

Burberry £1m

Calvin Klein £1.5m

Bulgari jewellery £1m

Stella McCartney £1m

TOTAL: £9.4m