Supermodel facing grilling over cocaine

Kate Moss models a Louis Vuitton charm bracelet.

LONDON - Supermodel Kate Moss is to be questioned by Scotland Yard over claims that she snorted cocaine during a recording session with her rock star boyfriend.

The announcement of a criminal inquiry by detectives came as Hennes & Mauritz, the high street fashion chain, became the first company to sever its links with the model over the drug allegations.

The Sweden-based company performed a u-turn after last week - after vowing to give Moss a "second chance" - by cancelling a 2 million ($5.16 million) advertising campaign featuring the Croydon-born model, saying she was no longer compatible with its anti-drugs stance.

News of the police inquiry and H&M's decision will increase pressure on the host of high-profile companies, including Chanel, Dior and Burberry, which pay Moss about 4 million ($10.32 million) a year to be the "face" of their brands.

The Yard investigation has been ordered by Assistant Commissioner Tariq Ghaffur, in charge of Specialist Operations, who is said to believe that Moss should receive no special exemption from the law because of her celebrity status.

It is understood that the investigation will try to establish whether the model's boyfriend, Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty, was involved in obtaining the drugs.

A senior police source said: "We want to ask her who her supplier was - whether, for instance, it was her boyfriend.

"There is no reason why she should not be interviewed. How can we arrest working-class kids in Brixton and turn a blind eye to celebrities?

"It is up to Ms Moss whether she wants to talk to us. We do not know what will happen; she may just get away with a caution."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has already stated that his force will crack down on "middle-class" drug usage.

The investigation will also dent any hopes that a strategy of silence on the part of Moss and her corporate partners will allow them to ride out the storm over covert photographs published last week in the Daily Mirror.

Experts said the model's sacking by H&M could provoke a stampede by fashion multi-nationals anxious that Moss has become a liability rather than an asset.

One marketing executive linked to H&M told the Independent: "There has been a period of a few days where people have waited to see which way the wind is blowing on this - is Kate still a cool rock chick or is she a fading star?

"Lawyers have been consulted and brand managers have been wringing their hands. If one of the companies has decided she's more trouble than she's worth it's likely others will reach the same conclusion."

H&M had initially stood by Moss after it said she had expressed remorse about the pictures, which apparently show her seeming to snort cocaine during a recording session in London with Doherty.

It was reported yesterday that she has since ended the relationship, causing Doherty to go on a rampage during a concert in Ibiza this week.

Representatives of H&M held a meeting with the model in New York last week during which she was "very regretful" about the photographs.

But the retailer said yesterday that it had changed its mind after spending the weekend "evaluating" the implications her behaviour.

The firm primarily targets the teenage and youth market.

In a statement, the company said: "H&M is strongly against drugs ... After having evaluated the situation, H&M has decided that a campaign with Kate Moss is inconsistent with H&M's clear dissociation of drugs."

A spokeswoman declined to comment on whether further lurid revelations in a Sunday newspaper about drug-fuelled three-in-a-bed sex sessions had influenced its decision.

H&M is estimated to have spent 2 million ($5.16 million) on the poster and magazine campaign, which had been due to back the launch of its autumn collection by Stella McCartney on November 10.

The company, which last year made profits of 784 million ($2 billion), had initially said that, although it strongly disapproved of Moss's actions, it was willing to give her a "second chance" and the advertising campaign would continue.

The model had also agreed to abide by the company policy that its models be "healthy, wholesome and sound", the company said.

- INDEPENDENT