She has amassed a fortune, defined and defied fashion mores and proved wrong those who predicted her downfall. Her image is everywhere: compelling and enigmatic. On the sunny April evening that she launched her own range for TopShop, thousands seethed into Oxford Street - teenage girls, middle-aged women and men of all ages. But though she has become one of the most recognized women in the world, she remains the least understood. By her own admission, 'The more visible they make me, the less visible I become.'

From her discovery at the age of fourteen, when her waif-life look was considered 'uncommercial', to finding international fame as a supermodel and her position today as an arbiter of fashion, the book examines Kate's ever-changing career against the backdrop of the fashion industry. It also uncovers her sometimes turbulent private life, from her relationships with Johnny Depp and Jefferson Hack to the media frenzy over her time with Pete Doherty. Based on in-depth research, Laura Collins has written the first definitive biography of one of the most glamorous women of our time.