Supermodel Kate Moss, at the centre of a cocaine scandal just over a year ago, has won the top accolade in British fashion, but the award has divided opinion and stirred fresh controversy over the celebrity.
The Model of the Year prize at British fashion's answer to the Oscars late on Thursday sealed Moss's recovery from a newspaper story that briefly threatened her career.
In September, 2005, photographs of the 32-year-old model apparently snorting cocaine appeared on the front page of British tabloid The Daily Mirror. Since then, "cocaine Kate" as she was dubbed has returned to the pinnacle of her profession and she was not charged over the allegations. Some commentators and drug charities are concerned over what the award says about fashion and what signals it sends to young people tempted to use drugs.
But fellow models and celebrities have defended Moss, pointing to her commercial success and her willingness to apologise for her behaviour. "I think it's a bad reflection on the world of fashion," said Jane Ennis, editor of celebrity magazine Now.
"The fact that she has become an even bigger icon since getting into all this trouble is fantastically decadent. Sometimes commercial interests should be set aside to look at the wider picture." George Ruston, director of Hope UK, a drug education charity in Britain, called the award "unhelpful" and said advertisers were as much to blame as Moss.
But he added that for every young person who looks up to Moss as a role model, many do not, and the problems of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis abuse are worse than that of cocaine.
Bryan Roberts, analyst at London trend spotting agency Planet Retail, said Moss was one of the world's top celebrities, and, rightly or wrongly, guaranteed column inches. "She's become a bigger name since the scandal and anyone who affiliates himself with her name will reap the publicity."
And fellow celebrities like actress Sharon Stone and photographer Mario Testino have urged people not to judge a person for what may have been an isolated mistake.
The fashion world remains unapologetic for using Moss as its cover girl and awarding her for professional achievements rather than her private life.
Several fashion houses quickly dropped her from their advertising campaigns, since then she has clawed back contracts and featured in at least 18 major campaigns this season. Industry experts say she is earning more now than she did before the scandal broke.
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