Girl on film

HER previously waif-like figure may have become a little more rounded than in earlier years when she was the height of heroin chic.

But super-rich model Kate Moss is still at the top of her game and will, apparently, appear naked for Playboy next January in celebration of her 40th birthday and the magazine’s 60th, her career coming full circle since she posed partially nude for Calvin Klein jeans and perfume in the early 90s.

Now Ms Moss, a global icon of fashion and style, finds herself in the limelight once more as the star of a unique sale on September 25 at Christie’s in London, the exclusive auction house in St James’s where in 2005 Lucian Freud’s almost life-size, full length portrait of the supermodel – naked and pregnant – fetched £3.9 million.

Kate Moss – The Collection, curated by renowned collector Gert Elfering, features a selection of works celebrating her in various media, including unique or limited edition photographs, holograms, sculptures, prints and tapestries.

The roster of photographers includes Allen Jones, with his work Kate Moss (bronze glitter) 2013, estimated at £20,000-£30,000, Annie Liebovitz, Mary McCartney, Craig McDean, Irving Penn, Mario Sorrenti, Sam Taylor-Wood, Juergen Teller, Mario Testino, Ellen von Unwerth, Glen Luchford, Bruce Weber and Albert Watson. Their images are complemented by new, specially commissioned painting and sculpture by Allen Jones, a collage by Sir Peter Blake, a tapestry by Chuck Close, and a sculpture of Kate Moss as a naked angel in Nymphenburg porcelain by Nick Knight.

The curator describes Ms Moss as “a living icon” and “the ultimate modern muse”, while Philippe Garner, director of photographs at Christie’s, says the collection represents “a unique presentation of emblematic works that powerfully captures the very essence of contemporary glamour and style”.

Photographic highlights of the sale include a large pigment print, Kate on couch, nude, 1992 by Mario Sorrenti (£30,000-50,000); a hand-coated archival pigment print by Nick Knight entitled Black Kate, 2006 (also £30,000-50,000); and a chromogenic print, Kate Moss on lounge chair 1, Glen Cove, NY, 1995, by Sante D’Orazio (£20,000-30,000). Also on offer are Chris Levine’s hologram She’s Light (Laser 3), 2013 (£100,000-£150,000), Irving Penn’s Kate Moss (hand on thigh), New York, April 25, 1996 (£50,000-70,000) and Chuck Close’s staggering Jacquard tapestry, Kate, 2007(£60,000-80,000).

With a couple of decades of wild, drug-fuelled partying and unsuitable relationships behind her, Kate Moss nevertheless remains a dominant figure in the fickle world of fashion.

She is also astute, earning the best part of £12m last year. Images of Kate Moss will be seen in major museums and private collections for many years to come, of that I have little doubt.