Kate Mosss Cigarette Burns Boost McQueen Suit Value

Most auction items would not rise in value with the addition of cigarette burns.

But when the holes are made by supermodel smoker Kate Moss, it’s a different story.

So it proved with a white Gucci suit worn by late designer Alexander McQueen, which is going under the hammer with an estimated price of £3,000.

Auctioneers at Kerry Taylor, who are handling the sale of McQueen’s estate, say the damage has made the item more desirable to collectors.

McQueen, who died aged 40 in 2010, first wore the suit at the New York Fashion Awards in 2003 – the ‘Fashion Oscars’ – where he won International Designer of the Year.

A spokesman for the auction house said McQueen was spotted in the Tom Ford-designed suit again at his Pantheon Ad Lucem show in 2004 in Paris.

‘While the ensemble shows some signs of wear, these imperfections are part of its narrative as a well-loved piece,’ the auction house spokesman said.

‘The holes on the left sleeve, for example, were courtesy of Kate Moss’s cigarette, who [McQueen] was photographed standing backstage with at the Pantheon Ad Lucem show.’

Late designer Alexander McQueen posing with supermodel Kate Moss at a fashion show in Paris on March 5, 2004

Cigarette burns made in the white Gucci outfit by the supermodel has increased the item's value

Alex Baddeley, head of menswear at Kerry Taylor, added that the suit’s condition ‘gives us more of an insight into his life, partying and collecting awards’.

Ms Moss, 52, had a close friendship with McQueen – the pair rose up in the industry at the same time in the early-1990s in London.

Ms Moss memorably appeared as a ghostly hologram in layers of white organza in McQueen’s 2006 show, Widows Of Culloden.