Kate Moss: still hardcore after all these years

It’s 5am, the morning after the Serpentine Summer Party, the season’s starriest bash. The Laurent-Perrier’s all gone, the cocktail bar is dismantled and host L’Wren Scott’s guests, from Georgia May Jagger to Sarah Jessica Parker, are safely tucked up in bed. But for one partygoer, the night is still young. Yes, we could only be talking about our favourite veteran supermodel: the woman who made it OK to be a 32AA, turned looking tired and scrappy into a trend, and dated all our favourite greasy-haired, guitar-strumming bad boys. For Miss Moss the Hyde Park bash was just a chance to catch up with her buddy Mick Jagger. By 10pm she had moved on to 45 Park Lane, turning the Dream For Future Africa Foundation dinner (charidee, sweetie) into her unofficial after-party. By midnight she had sloped off to Primrose Hill with only the hardest of her hardcore pals for an after-after party. Five hours later her Croydon cohort was ready to go home. Naomi Campbell was followed by Grace Jones, who held on to a nearby branch to steady herself before spanking one of the assembled photographers and chasing him up the street shouting, ‘Naughty!’

It’s just another Wednesday night in the life of Kate Moss, who at 39 is still the hardest partying woman in town. You can guarantee that every few months a naysayer will emerge and lament the sad end of La Moss, claiming she’s losing her sheen; that she’s hanging up her dancing heels; that her hair is less glossy, her limbs saggy, or some little upstart (we’re looking at you, Cara) is a far hotter ticket. Then, in trademark Mossy style, she’ll storm a party, hog the limelight and proceed on an epic bender. Who can forget her bacchanalian hen party at the Isle of Wight Festival where her 30 fellow ravers downed Cristal champagne, Grey Goose vodka, Tanqueray gin and 300 bottles of Mahiki rum, which she had flown in by helicopter?

If further proof is needed, take last month’s Glastonbury. While Cara stumbled around the Shangri-La area in a 1980s-style floral tracksuit and a peculiar cat-shaped mask, chaperoned by her big sister, Kate was chauffeured up for The Stones’ set (complete with bulging suitcases and her own pillows) wearing high-heeled leather boots, and danced until 4am with our other favourite bad boy, Prince Harry.

It’s not that Cara isn’t a hoot — we love her gurning selfies and comedy onesies — it’s just Kate’s already been there, done that (better), and designed the (Stella McCartney for Comic Relief) T-shirt. Let’s assess the evidence: Cara has been paired with pop idols Harry Styles and Jake Bugg; Kate is married to bona fide rocker Jamie Hince, after a messy stint with Pete Doherty. Cara dropped a suspicious-looking bag of white powder; Kate weathered a full-blown drugs scandal only to treble her earnings. Cara frolics with her ‘wifey’ Rita Ora; Kate has had full-on sapphic moments with Sharon Stone and Rihanna. Cara plays the drums and did a rap with Rita for Hunger magazine; Kate has performed with Primal Scream, sung at Glasto with Babyshambles and played tambourine for Oasis while Johnny Depp strummed the guitar... need we go on?

But the best thing about Kate? She works just as hard as she plays. After 25 years, which have included a make-up range for Rimmel, ten fragrances and 14 collections for Topshop (and at twice Cara’s age), she is busier than ever. Cara may be looking grungy for Saint Laurent and twit-twooing with a baby owl for Mulberry this season, but you’ll see Kate sprawling naked on a wooden jetty for St Tropez; rocking a mega blow-dry for Kérastase; as a shiny brunette for Versace and dressed as a hot yeti (we think) for Stuart Weitzman shoes. Oh, and she is also designing her own range of accessories for Carphone Warehouse. ‘My phone’s as much a part of my look as my bag or shoes, and yet there’s so little choice out there,’ she says. ‘I was heavily involved in the design process and loved seeing my vision come to life in the final product.’ OK, so her carefully worded statements don’t offer quite as thrilling an insight into her world as Cara’s tweets and kooky Instagram pictures, but Kate’s aloofness is just another reason we love her. Long live that Moss mystique!