Kate Moss says she felt ‘pressured’ into posing topless as a young model
‘I did not like it at all’
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Louise Thomas
Editor
Supermodel Kate Moss has spoken out about her early days of modelling and admitted that she wasn’t always comfortable when posing topless.
In fact, the supermodel reveals that she “did not like it at all.”
In an interview with journalist Megyn Kelly for American morning television show Today, the 44-year-old said: “There was pressure to pose topless.
”I worked with a woman photographer, Corinne Day, and she always liked me with no top on. I did not like it at all when I first started.“
Day was the photographer behind the lens for some of Moss’s very first modelling jobs and the results quickly became the defining images of the 90s with a new documentary feel.
In the interview, the supermodel also explained that she became used to stripping off for the camera, but that even when she was working with Mario Sorrenti – who was both her boyfriend and the photographer responsible for her famous 1993 Calvin Klein Obsession campaign – she didn’t enjoy it.
”Mario was my boyfriend so I was kind of used to it, but I still was always like, 'Can I just put some clothes on?'” she explained.
“But that was the job and so we just kind of did it.“
Now though, Moss has extremely different views on models posing topless and revealed that she will never let her daughter, 15-year-old Lila Grace Moss Hack, do it.
”[Models these days] don't have to do it if they don't want to do it. I wouldn't let my daughter do it. I look at her now and she is 15 and to think I was going topless at her age, it's crazy,” she said.
However, Moss did say that if Lila Grace chooses to follow in her footsteps that she will support her along the way.
“But it's up to her [if she wants to model]. I am leaving it up to her. I will support her obviously. I will be her momager! She can if she wants to. I will support her in anything she wants to do.”
The supermodel’s comments feel particularly timely amidst the #MeToo movement. Over the last year, a number of high profile fashion photographers have been accused of sexual assault, leading to several new regulations to protect models including the Models' Harassment Protection Act, which aims to close loopholes that currently leave models open to sexual harassment on the job.
In January, Mario Testino and Bruce Weber were accused of sexually exploiting male models in allegations that date back to the mid-1990s. Claims which saw Conde Nast – the publishing house that manages titles like Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair – release a statement confirming that they will no longer be commissioning any work with either of the two men.
Similarly, last year American photographer Terry Richardson was accused of misconduct during a number of photoshoots known for their erotic content.
In 2014 he said explicit acts were part of “exploring sexuality” following complaints from models.
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