Fallen woman: Shaming of a supermodel

It is not that anyone is surprised about Kate Moss and drugs. She has been in rehab before. It is more about the sudden impact that recent revelations have had upon the supermodel's life and future, and, indeed, on the glamorous world of fashion.

Grainy photos, captured on a camera phone and sold to the Daily Mirror last week, are likely to have cost 31-year-old Moss more than £4m a year, assuming that Christian Dior, Rimmel and H Stern follow H&M, Burberry and Chanel in dropping her from their advertising campaigns.

Last night, Moss bowed to the inevitable and issued a statement of contrition, embarking on the long road to forgiveness in what is a notoriously fickle business. Maintaining the façade of perfection is what the fashion industry does best and, as Moss has discovered, it is ruthless in the face of human frailty.

"I take full responsibility for my actions," Moss's statement read. "I also accept that there are various personal issues that I need to address and have started taking the difficult, yet necessary, steps to resolve them."

The Daily Mirror pictures, which purported to show Moss snorting cocaine while hanging out with her rock star boyfriend Pete Doherty at a recording studio, have sent a wave of panic through the fashion industry. A successful stylist, who works for glossy magazines and quality newspapers, confirms that Moss is renowned for her drug use in the fashion industry. But the brutal and public exposure of this has been received with horror by most in the fashion industry.

"The British press have a habit of building celebrities up then bringing them down," she said. "Look at what happened to Jude Law recently. I think people feel Kate Moss has responsibilities as a mother to her two-year-old daughter, that if she was a 'normal' person the social services would be after her. But the overwhelming view is that drug use happens in the music industry, in journalism and in the City. The fashion world feels as though it has been unfairly targeted."

Since Moss first appeared on the cover of The Face in 1990, she has been the epitome of cool. At 31, she remains breathtakingly beautiful but her edginess ensures she is far from anodyne; she is, in fact, beautiful, enigmatic and sexy in equal measure. She is also an effortless style icon, for Calvin Klein in the 1990s and, until a few days ago, for Burberry. The stylist insists Moss's career is not over. "If she dumps Doherty, goes to rehab, lies low for six months and reappears having obviously cleaned up her act, she'll be fine."

It is not clear what will happen with Doherty, but yesterday's simple statement from Moss accepted responsibility for her situation. It also acknowledged the strain it has placed on her loyal group of friends and family. She said: "I want to apologise to all of the people I have let down because of my behaviour which has reflected badly on my family, friends, co-workers, business associates and others. I am trying to be positive, and the support and love I have received are invaluable."

By all accounts, this is a smart move which indicates she will not, as rumours have suggested, be listening to Max Clifford and making a public appearance on television to "make amends".

A former editor of a women's glossy magazine says this would be the wrong move. "She should publicly acknowledge she has a problem - as she has just done - go into rehab and let us all feel sorry for her. She's not a dealer but a victim. She's never been one to talk to the press; why should she start now?"

Indeed, Moss rarely gives interviews; she has spent the past 15 years in and out of the tabloids but would always rather keep quiet. She said little when her relationship with the American actor Johnny Depp ended and even less when she broke up with Jefferson Hack, the father of her daughter and co-founder of the style magazine Dazed & Confused. It was a surprise to see her talking and laughing in a recent Pete Doherty television documentary.

Moss has never set herself up as a clean-living role model. She never denied being a party girl. She has always been photographed by paparazzi with a cigarette dangling from her fingers. This has increased a sense of injustice from the fashion world at her treatment this week in some sections of the media. "This is a media-driven witchhunt," the former women's magazine editor says. "The newspapers keep saying cocaine is a fashion industry problem but the truth is that it permeates all professions and all classes. Where is it going to end? Kate Moss never works again and we're all glad about it?"

At London Fashion Week, no one seemed to be talking about the next model who might be exposed as a hard drug user; perhaps because few of the catwalk stars are as famous, as interesting or as three-dimensional as Moss. Another model using cocaine would probably not make the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, consider prosecuting her to set an example.

Although Kate Moss is at the centre of this storm, many would say this is not about her, but about money. And big business. And reputation. Peter Howarth, former editor of Arena and Esquire, says fashion has changed in recent years. "It's not about a creative genius working from their garret any more. It's about big corporations running big businesses. Although Armani and Dolce & Gabbana are big independents, they are few and far between now. Versace has announced this week that it is no longer a family fashion house but a big brand, a global business."

Howarth says that with such serious amounts of money at stake, the dynamics of the fashion world have changed. "It's no longer the rock'n'roll world of fashion. Our residual idea of fashion in this country is that it should be fun and creative. With the likes of Paul Smith and the Yorkshire-born Christopher Bailey behind Burberry, we are creative, but some of the fun has gone out of it. This story is not just about Kate Moss and drugs, it's about an industry that doesn't want that publicity at any cost."

If H&M had not been the first to go, issuing a statement saying Moss's actions were "inconsistent" with the company's anti-drug policies, would Burberry and Chanel have dropped her so swiftly and would Rimmel be "reviewing her contract"? Moss is a great style icon whose influence is far-reaching and which few can emulate.

Moss is not a model that any of these companies would easily have let go. She has helped to transform Burberry, to make it contemporary again; she gave Chanel the classiness to which it is accustomed. Catherine Deneuve, a former face of Chanel No 5, voiced her support for Moss yesterday on Channel 4's Richard And Judy. "She's a great model. If she's ruining her personal life, that belongs to her ... I find it unbearable that maybe someone shot her, stole the photos and sold them ..."

Richard Benson, a journalist and cultural commentator, says these companies have been put in a "tight spot", particularly H&M and Rimmel, who sell to teenage girls. But he is also angry about the reaction to Moss's cocaine use. He says male pop stars who take drugs and also have children are rarely criticised for their parental skills.

"When Paul Gascoigne admitted beating up his wife, why didn't England's sponsors withdraw when he was then picked for the team?" he asks. "Taking drugs, hitting your wife, it's a thing men do. Moss takes cocaine and doesn't hurt anyone, but is hunted by the press."

As Moss is vilified, so Doherty continues to be glorified. There is little, it seems, that the self-confessed junkie Pete Doherty can do wrong. After all, he is a rock star, even if he does not quite manage to get records released or make it to many gigs because of his habit. Most people at London Fashion Week agreed on one thing, that Kate does not need Pete. "People think it's tragic," one insider says. "Most think she should get rid of Pete Doherty; he's an idiot. Simple as that."

Although Benson is equally dismissive of Doherty, he feels more angry about hypocrisy. "I don't see any evidence that cocaine is used in the fashion world any more than in music, film, advertising or, crucially, journalism. I'd say the City of London is more riddled with coke than fashion is. We have this 1950s attitude that cocaine is a high-life drug, the byword for urban sophistication. Fashion is seen as the high life and there's a knee-jerk reaction to hate it."

After Moss has lost most - or even all - of her advertising contracts, the pack will move on. For now. The fashion world, ever fickle, will be waiting to re-embrace Kate after she does her penance. Next week, the fashion world moves to Milan. "I think talk of Kate Moss will have tailed off by then," an insider says. "Fashion gossip doesn't usually last for more than a few days."

Fashion world's response

"Kate's been unfairly treated by the media and by H&M. She's the best model in the world. When this blows over, H&M will come crawling back to offer her something else. Who in the fashion world isn't doing drugs?"

Alastair Mackey, HUGO BOSS MODEL

"I think it's really unfair. She may be a product, but she's a human being too. The media are responsible for her loss of success and work."

Helga Vjornsson, ICELANDIC FASHION DESIGNER

"She's a great model. If she's ruining her personal life, that belongs to her."

Catherine Deneuve, ACTRESS

"A brand has the right to ask for what it wants. People are lucky to have such great contracts, and they need to respect them. It's a shame to set this example."

Anne de Champigneuil, FRENCH FASHION CONSULTANT

"Unless she goes on TV saying she's giving up, things will get worse."

Max Clifford, PR GURU