Kate’s model sister LITTLE MOSS SUNSHINE
Lovely Lottie is in vogue and strutting her stuff!
Lottie Moss really ought to be knackered. It’s Sunday lunch time and she’s been leaping about in the air for hours on a photo shoot for luxury brand Bulgari.
Now off duty at a nearby hotel, the 19-year-old merrily polishes off some fries from room service before scrambling onto her bed, sitting cross-legged and explaining to Woman’s Day just how she ended up here.
“It’s quite funny, actually,” recalls Lottie. “I never really wanted to be a model when I was younger. It was something I didn’t think I could do until I was scouted at my sister’s wedding. I remember thinking, ‘Yeah, that actually sounds fun.’”
The sister she speaks of is, in fact, her half-sister Kate Moss, who – after 28 years in the industry – remains arguably the most famous supermodel in the world. That wedding, in 2011, was Kate’s nuptials with musician Jamie Hince and photographs of it circulated around the world.
Lottie, then 13, was one of 16 bridesmaids and flower girls that day. At the time, one newspaper called the entourage “waist-high it girls-to-be” – not the most outrageous prediction given that those standing with
Lottie included Kate’s daughter Lila Grace, as well as Jude Law and Sadie Frost’s girl Iris (now a model), and Keith Richards’ granddaughter Ella (ditto).
Even in that company, Lottie stood out. Kate’s modelling agency at the time, Storm, got in touch with Lottie’s parents – Kate’s dad Peter and her stepmum Inga – to ask if she’d like to join them when she turned 16.
She did and when her 16th birthday came around, she found herself in demand for fashion shoots, often abroad, including a campaign for Calvin Klein, which came 21 years after Kate did the same.
Gamechanger
A lot of things are “incredible” or “amazing” for Lottie. In the space of half an hour, she raves about the weather, the hotel room, the clothes she wore this morning, her manager, her parents, her friends, Gigi Hadid and her personal trainer.
And the pitfalls she’s looking to avoid as her career progresses? “Just, you know, taking things for granted,” says Lottie. “I don’t think you should ever push people around or be rude. I want to treat everyone with respect – that’s the main thing.” Lottie – who is dating Madein
Chelsea reality star Alex Mytton, 25 – moved into her own flat in London shortly after her 18th birthday. Faced with a choice between modelling and uni, she chose the former. “I’m at my happiest when I model, so I figured I might as well do that,” she explains. “I could get a degree at any time.”
Many of her school friends are at uni, but she’s certain she has made the right decision. Smirking, she says, “Disgusting flats with paint coming off the walls and microwave meals? Really, I’m good, thanks.”
Lottie concedes that being a model now isn’t the same as it was for her sister’s generation. Two decades ago, it was all about magazine covers, runway shows and being photographed by industry greats. Now you take the photos and publish them yourself, and you don’t need to go anywhere near a runway to become “a name”.
“It’s more about the brand you create for yourself,” she tells. “If you look at Kendall Jenner, and Gigi and Bella Hadid, they have millions of followers on Instagram. That’s why they’ve become successful – because they’re young, beautiful and cool, and everybody wants to be them.”
Lottie is an avid Instagrammer, but she has a way to go before competing in the same league as Kendall and the Hadids. Her following is 120,000, while Miss Jenner’s fans number 77.3 million.
Despite possessing the same doe-eyed stare and cut-glass cheekbones as her half-sister, at 1.68m – 2cm shorter than Kate – Lottie is “kind of too small” for a lot of runway modelling. But that hasn’t stunted her career so far.
Last year, she appeared on the cover of French Vogue, starred in Topshop’s Christmas campaign and joined big names – including Cara Delevingne, Georgia May Jagger and Lily-Rose Depp – walking in Chanel’s show at the Ritz Paris. The future promises a lot, including more work with Bulgari and possibly something entirely different. “Modelling could be a great platform for me to move on to something else,” she smiles. “I’ve got a few things on the table.”
Just what those things are, Lottie refuses to say. In the meantime, she’s turning her hand to home decorating. “My flat needs to be a lot more cosy. At the moment, it’s like a bachelor pad and that’s not good at all.”