Mark Ritson on branding: Hit by scandal? Make the most of it

Bryan Ferry paused, just for a second, and the audience at the Victoria & Albert Museum thrilled.

No stranger to beautiful women, Ferry was on stage to announce who had
won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards. The crowd had a
clear favourite and the usually detached atmosphere suddenly acquired a

brief flash of anticipation. Finally Ferry smiled and two words fell languidly from his mouth into the huge room: Kate Moss.

Moss did not accept the award in person. Instead, Vivienne Westwood
returned to the stage to accept it in her honour. Despite rumours that
Moss would appear to claim her prize, no one in the fashion cognoscenti
expected her to appear. Kate keeps quiet.

A little over a year ago, things were very different for the British
supermodel. That Daily Mirror front page, featuring Moss apparently
engaged in a cocaine binge, had been flashed all over the world. During
the painful PR week that followed, her major contracts with brands
including H&M, Chanel and Gloria Vanderbilt were abruptly and very
publicly ended or reviewed. Even Burberry was forced to unceremoniously
dump her image from its flagship stores.

The media were quick to punish and predict her demise. The New York
Times had Moss in 'professional freefall', The Times had her future
'hanging in the balance', while The Mirror boldly declared her career
over. Max Clifford announced that Moss was 'coming to the end of her
career', while that other PR uber-commentator, Mark Borkowski, predicted
that Moss would be 'crucified' and declared that she had 'as much
glamour as a disinfected bargepole'.

Things did not quite work out that way. The past 12 months have been
Moss' most successful in her 15-year career. Aside from last week's
award, she was also voted Best Dressed Woman by Glamour and given a
prestigious award for Fashion Influence in the US.

Her popularity with the public appears equally strong. Burberry reported
'extraordinary' demand for the £750 handbag Moss carries in its
latest ads, while Superdrug saw sales of its £2.99 charity bag
increase tenfold after the model was spotted with one.

Then there is the work. Since the scandal broke, Moss has picked up
contracts for Nikon, Virgin Mobile, Top Shop, Burberry, Stella
McCartney, Dior, Versace, Agent Provocateur, Louis Vuitton and her
original patron, Calvin Klein. Fashion insiders estimate she has
quadrupled her annual income to about £30m this year.

Moss is a very private woman, but 'Kate Moss the model' is a brand. And,
like any brand, we must understand her brand equity to correctly
diagnose her future success or failure.

One of the originators of the 'heroin chic' look when she graced the
cover of The Face in 1990, Moss caused further scandal when she posed
nude for Calvin Klein's Obsession in 1993. For the past 10 years her
personal life has continually featured in the papers and she is engaged
to a drug-addled pop star. She is a brand built on glamour, but also
danger and scandal.

This is the root of her success - Paris Vogue admitted as much when it
put Moss on its cover last Autumn. Burberry originally selected her to
represent the brand for exactly the same reason. She was the 'bad girl'
to contrast with its other British face, the aristocratic Stella
Tennant.

Moss' tabloid scandal was not career-ending, but career-extending. Look
at the other models of her generation: the Turlingtons and Schiffers are
part of fashion history. Rich husbands and charity campaigns are their
lot.

At 32, Moss is an unparalleled, contemporary success because she is
different and consistent, and because she is a brand.

30 SECONDS ON ... KATE MOSS

- After allegations of her cocaine use broke in September 2005, Moss was
dropped by H&M, Chanel and Burberry, reportedly losing £4m in
earnings.

- Chanel said it would not renew her £750,000-a-year contract,
replacing her with actress Keira Knightley as the face of fragrance Coco
Mademoiselle in a deal believed to be worth £1m.

- Burberry said it was 'saddened by her circumstances' and would not
extend her contract past October 2005, but subsequently decided to renew
the deal after all.

- Moss has secured several deals this year, including a £1.5m
contract to advertise Nikon cameras, a £1.2m tie-up with Virgin
Mobile and a £1m Stella McCartney contract.

- She is also set to return as the face of Calvin Klein Jeans, in a deal
worth a reported £500,000.

- Moss' earnings for the current financial year are predicted to be
about £11m.