Kate Moss's half-sister Lottie Moss reveals she was exposed to dark underbelly of fashion industry as a teen
LONDON, UK: Kate Moss' half sister, Lottie, has alleged that top fashion figures in the industry plied her with drugs when she was 19. The 25-year-old model is sober after completing her time in rehab. Lottie said she never did drugs or consumed alcohol before she became a catwalk star. However, she eventually became hooked.
Lottie, a London-born socialite, admitted that she was never able to confide in Moss, her half-sister, about her ordeals. She revealed that being compared to Moss throughout her career was a constant burden.
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'They're sat there doing drugs with you as a 19-year-old'
"I started quite early on with using drugs and alcohol as a crutch, as a coping mechanism, which there is not a lack of in the fashion industry," Lottie said, according to the Daily Mail, adding, "There were people in positions of power that were giving me drugs and alcohol when I was very young and so it didn't seem bad to me."
"When you have people around you who are enabling you, I am talking at high fashion events and people are in a penthouse suite, and its people that are working for a brand that is very well known and they're sat there doing drugs with you as a 19-year-old," Lottie said.
Lottie continued, "That is so weird to me now… that should never happen in any industry. The fact that no one said, 'maybe we shouldn't be enabling our client to do drugs. We should want her to be on her A game and doing her best, wake up in the morning and do a gym class, instead it was lots of alcohol', and it goes hand in hand."
'I felt that I could be free'
Lottie revealed that she was eventually using "five times a week" after an unhappy relationship with an older man. "I did weed and things like that when I was 15 but moving to London and being around a lot of older people, my boyfriend at the time was 27 and the people we were hanging around with did a lot of drugs," she said.
"I started to realise quite early on that my relationship wasn't going very well with him and he was unfaithful, and he was also using drugs as a coping mechanism. I saw that and I instilled it into my life because it was the only time, I felt that I could be free," Lottie continued.
She added, "When I was working constantly, I had to be on my A game so when I came back to London and did drugs, I was like 'yes' because it felt like freedom to me. It felt like my escape, but it quickly became something that I used because I was not happy. I have been honest with myself back then that I was using it too much. I don't feel that I had an addiction to it… I just needed to get away. It numbed every single feeling that I had like anger, upset, loneliness, it became like my friend."
'I have grown up with being in the shadow of my sister'
Lottie opened up about her relationship with Moss, revealing it was hard dealing with the comparisons between them. "I have grown up with being in the shadow of my sister always and I know there's this whole nepo baby thing now and I want to clarify this because I'm not trying to say that it's not a privilege," she explained, adding, "I've obviously had doors open for me and I have had some incredible experiences and worked with some amazing people, and I've met some of my best friends today because of that job but it was not for me."
"Being constantly compared to someone whether they are famous or not is a pain. I have friends that have very wealthy parents that constantly feel like they're not good enough because their parents have created this incredible business and they just feel like they're never going to be that… they're never going to be the owner of a multimillion-pound business, and it is hard. People laugh about it and say 'nepo baby' or whatever but it is hard being compared to somebody and I don't get why this is just nepotism because there are lots of rich people that this happens to as well that aren't famous," Lottie added.
Lottie has worked in the fashion industry for nearly a decade. However, she said that she was actually never passionate about modelling and believes she did not fit in. "I wasn't the typical height for a model, and I felt like an imposter. It was fake," Lottie said on the latest episode of the 'Head Strong' podcast with host Louis Strong.
"It didn't feel right to me that I was going to all these events and staying in the Four Seasons, I was like, what I don't belong here, this is not me. I'm not a flashy person. I know this sounds bad, but I never really even cared about fashion. People were like 'oh my God the new season' and I was like 'it kind of looks the same as the last season. I would sit at these runway shows, and I'd be like, what am I missing? Are we watching the same thing? Half of them I zoned out for. I'm like sue me but I didn't enjoy it. People have comments like saying I can only do OnlyFans now and I'm like, no I quit," she added.
'I value myself so much more now'
Lottie revealed she was now looking forward to removing a tattoo from her face, and her exes' initials. She explained that she wanted "to be the best version of myself now."
"I went to rehab for depression, and I use drugs and alcohol as a crutch. The people at my rehab said that I don't show the signs of an addict because I have never really tried different drugs it was just one that I was doing, and I never wanted to try any others," she said.
She added, "I was there for 28 days. Four weeks wasn't that long in rehab. I loved it, the people around me were so supportive, I went to a private one so there was only three of us living in this house. I value myself so much more now. I have good people around me know who pull me up and make me feel good and make me laugh, which is the recipe to it."