Big, who has become one of the most recognized and highest paid supermodels of the nineties, was born in Croydon, Surrey, England, on the 16th of January 1974.

Kate's entry into the fashion industry all started in 1988, when Kate and her family were in JFK airport on their way back from a vacation in the Bahamas. The then 14-year-old Kate caught the eye of Sarah Ducas of Storm Agency, who approached Kate. This chance encounter was the launching pad of her hugely successful career.

Presently signed with three different modeling agencies -- Women in New York; Marilyn in Milan; and Storm in London, Kate has become one of the most photographed models to date. Her first modeling job was a topless appearance on the cover of the British magazine The Face.

Since then, it's obvious that Kate has remained abreast in her modeling career. The long list of magazine covers she has graced include Allure and Harper's Bazaar in the US; Arena, Elle and The Face in the UK; as well as the American, British, Australian, Italian, and Brazilian editions of Vogue.

If someone would not recognize Kate from the slew of magazine covers, they surely would from all the advertisements she has appeared in. Kate has practically become a staple in Calvin Klein ads, such as those for fragrances Obsession, CK Be and CK One.

In addition to Calvin Klein ads, she has also appeared in ads for Burberry, Cerruti 1881, De Beers Simple Diamond, Dolce and Gabbana, Gianni Versace, L'Oreal, and Yves Saint Laurent.

Kate has also strutted her stuff down the catwalks for such big name designers as Calvin Klein, Chanel and Versace.

Audiences have yet to see the last of Kate. She also appeared on the small screen, in a documentary entitled Models Close-Up; French and Saunders, a comedy series on the BBC; MTV's Fashionably Loud as well as Choose or Lose campaign; a British Mercury Mobile Phones ad; and Calvin Klein television ads.

In keeping with the tradition of supermodels being cast in music videos such as Linda Evangelistaand Helena Christensen Big wins the prize for the most music video appearances. She has been in Johnny Cash's "Delia's Gone", Primal Scream's "Kowalski" and Elton John's "The Way You Look Tonight".

Just to make Kate's career even more complete, she also appeared in films such as Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped and Christy Turlington's Catwalk. Also leaving her mark in the publishing world, Kate also released a book entitled Kate: The Big Story, which is a collection of her favorite pictures of none other than herself.

Although Kate's career has been multi-faceted to say the least, not all has been rosy in the story of Big. Mostly known for her unhealthy image (her thin figure is what started the waif look and she is known as a heavy smoker), Kate checked into the Priory Clinic, in order to kick her heavy drug and alcohol habit.

Having been romantically linked to fellow partier Johnny Deppfor four years, Kate also dated Calvin Klein photographer Mario Sorrenti. Recipient of the VH1 award for model of the year in 1996, Big is unquestionably one of the most successful and controversial models of the 90's, having earned an income of approximately $10,000 per day.