Why didn’t Kate Moss's Cosmoss work?
When the famously private supermodel Kate Moss launched her wellness brand Cosmoss in September 2022, the beauty world was watching with quiet fascination. Details were sparse, the vision abstract, and that air of mystery only fuelled intrigue. But did the mystery of it all inevitably lead to the brand's downfall?
Rooted in mysticism, nature and a post-party kind of self-reclamation, Cosmoss arrived with a slow-paced, spiritual energy. Moss, joined by close friends like nutritionist Rose Ferguson and homeopath Victoria Young, introduced a small collection of skincare, two herbal teas and a single fragrance. It wasn’t a high-gloss celebrity launch. It was low-key, curated, and more “energy shift” than skin transformation.
But just under three years later, Cosmoss has quietly shuttered. Voluntary liquidation was filed this month. To some fans who had been unsuccessfully trying to make purchases online, this was unsurprising, especially as the brand's last social media post was 18 weeks ago.
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It’s easy to say the wellness space is saturated; it is. It’s also easy to argue that the products were too niche or expensive, they were. The skincare, while beautifully formulated, cost up to £105 a bottle. The Sacred Mist fragrance retailed at £120. Even the teas came in at £20 a box. In a cost-of-living crisis, these were prices that needed to be matched by relentless presence, performance or both.
So maybe the more interesting question is whether Kate Moss was ever really a credible beauty and wellness founder. Not because she lacks taste, she has it in spades, but because brand-building in 2025 demands something she’s not known for: consistency, connection, and conversation.
When Moss launched the brand, she stepped out of her comfort zone to front the PR, recording interviews, making rare media appearances. It marked a shift from a model known for saying little to one suddenly willing to speak.
But the openness didn’t last. After the launch, Moss slipped back into her usual mystery. Her involvement, while genuine, felt distant. And unlike someone like Trinny Woodall, who lives and breathes her brand daily, Kate didn’t nurture the ongoing relationship with customers. There were no livestreams. No daily tips. No tagged bathroom selfies. Maybe that was the problem.
It struggled to stay in the conversation. In an age of transparency and oversharing, mystique only goes so far. As beautifully packaged as the Golden Nectar and Sacred Mist were, a brand can’t live on aesthetics alone.
Cosmoss wasn’t without a hero, however. Sacred Mist - the fragrance Moss co-created with Victoria Young - quickly became a fan favourite. A mood-lifting blend of orange flower, jasmine and cedarwood, it was expansive and unexpected. Many fans, now stockpiling bottles, would argue it was the standout proof that Moss can create something remarkable in beauty, she just may need a sharper strategy and a louder presence if she ever wants to try again.
Moss may not have cracked the code on wellness, but her influence in fashion remains untouchable. In the past year, she has fronted two sell-out Zara collections in collaboration with her friend and stylist Katy England - both steeped in 90s nostalgia and effortless cool.
