Kate Moss’ cover count has got to be epic — we've seen her face covering Vogue’s various international editions more than 300 times. But an adorable shot of mini Moss from more than two decades ago? That’s a Moss cover we haven’t seen before. The supermodel’s very vintage yearbook photo was used on L’Officiel Spain’s inaugural issue, which hits newsstands next week.
Using a vintage photo such as this one is an interesting, but very unexpected choice for any fashion cover, much less the debut issue of a magazine. (To be fair, this is an offshoot of the established, respected L’Officiel, which was started in France in 1921 and currently has 26 editions internationally.) It's hard to determine a new publication’s M.O. when they aren’t presenting an original aesthetic and you can't read into the caliber of cover star they were able to book. Typically, new, never-before-seen cover images clue readers into a title’s visual identity. As sweet as Moss' preteen mug is, there's no sartorial message to glean about L'Officiel Spain from an old class photo.
That said, this issue will probably get a lot of love (and international orders) from model obsessives and, specifically, major Moss fans. It’s a first-issue-as-collector’s-item approach instead of a typical introduction to a new glossy. And supposedly, when fashion folk aren’t fixated on the next big thing, they’re prone to nostalgia. So maybe this is a savvy way to make a splash on the newsstand. After all, who wouldn't want to look at one of the most illustrious models ever before she made it big?
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