Gauntlet Gallery — Complete KAWS Index
Kate Moss With White Gloves (First Edition)
Work Summary & Collector Notes
A KAWS print depicting the supermodel Kate Moss, reworked with his signature white cartoon gloves. The image brings KAWS's appropriation strategy to bear on a celebrity portrait, overlaying a fashion icon with the rounded, four-fingered gloves drawn from classic cartoon characters. Rendered as a bold, flat graphic with crisp outlines, the 'First Edition' print blends pop-portraiture with KAWS's recognizable visual codes. The white gloves transform a familiar figure of fashion and media culture into a hybrid of celebrity image and cartoon iconography, characteristic of how KAWS folds mass-culture sources into his own idiom.
Collector notes: Edition label was not stated, and total quantity was not documented in the saved record. Edition-specific signature, numbering, and stamp details were not stated in the saved release record. Verify signing and numbering against a documented example of this edition.
Why It Matters
Kate Moss is one of the defining celebrity images of the late twentieth century, and KAWS's intervention links his practice to the lineage of Pop portraiture — Warhol's celebrity silkscreens chief among them — while filtering it through his own cartoon vocabulary. By adding the white gloves, KAWS marks the image as his while commenting on how thoroughly fashion, advertising, and entertainment imagery saturate culture. The work shows the breadth of his appropriation beyond cartoon mascots, extending into the world of celebrity and media that has always shaped his subject matter. For collectors, a celebrity-themed KAWS print is a distinctive holding that connects his street-art and graphic sensibility to the broader history of Pop art's fascination with fame. It demonstrates that KAWS's method — claiming a recognizable image and re-signing it through his motifs — applies as readily to a supermodel as to a cartoon character.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who want a KAWS work outside the Companion and CHUM universe, especially those drawn to celebrity and Pop-portrait imagery. Its subject gives it crossover appeal among fashion and pop-culture collectors as well as KAWS specialists, and it stands out as a conversation piece within a collection dominated by his character-based works. As a bold graphic portrait it displays strikingly and can serve as a distinctive accent. Because it sits apart from his most common motifs, collectors should pay close attention to authentication, edition details, and condition, all of which drive value.
Historical Context
The work reflects KAWS's broad appropriation practice, which from his street-art beginnings drew on advertising, fashion, and entertainment imagery as well as cartoons. A Kate Moss portrait situates KAWS within the Pop-art tradition of celebrity image-making while marking the image with his cartoon gloves, a gesture that asserts authorship through recognizable motifs. It belongs to the editions side of his output, where he translates appropriated sources into accessible graphic prints. The piece illustrates how KAWS, having built a vocabulary on mascots like Companion and CHUM, could extend the same logic to the iconography of celebrity and fashion media.
Documented Release Details
- Object type
- Editioned print or object
- Release date
- 2001
- Release-date note
- Catalog-listed release year from the saved secondary record; primary release-page confirmation remains pending.
- Series
- Medium and materials
- Medium and materials were not documented in the saved record.
- Edition details
- Edition label was not stated, and total quantity was not documented in the saved record.
- Signature and marks
- Edition-specific signature, numbering, and stamp details were not stated in the saved release record. Verify signing and numbering against a documented example of this edition.
Documented History and Meaning
History note: This page treats KAWS's broader career as background context, not proof that this specific edition belongs to any single exhibition or event. Release-level facts here come from a saved secondary catalog record.
Meaning / interpretation: No per-work artist statement is recorded for this edition. Any thematic reading should be treated as interpretation of the imagery, not a documented statement of the artist's intent. This interpretive note follows the cited artist or publisher context.
Release context: The saved catalog lists 2001. It is grouped under Print in the saved record.
Authentication, Presentation and Provenance
- Original presentation
- Original packaging or presentation was not documented in the release sources reviewed.
- Authentication note
- Compare the support, dimensions, edition number, and signature against a documented example of this edition. Gauntlet Gallery does not authenticate works purchased from third parties.
- Provenance note
- Edition origin is attributed in the saved record to the release source named in the saved record. That does not establish the ownership history of an individual copy: retain the original invoice, reseller or gallery paperwork, labels, correspondence, and condition photographs.
Sources and Verification
Verification status: Secondary catalog snapshot; artist-level context added
- KAWSONE — official site — KAWS studio · primary artist source · Accessed 2026-07-13 · Official artist site; career context, not an individual-edition record.
- KAWS — Wikipedia · reference encyclopedia · Accessed 2026-07-13 · General artist-level biographical and career reference.
- KAWS (Q3194367) — Wikidata · reference knowledge base · Accessed 2026-07-13 · Structured identifier used for the artist across catalog metadata.
FAQ
Who is depicted in this print?
It depicts the supermodel Kate Moss, reworked with KAWS's signature white cartoon gloves, blending celebrity portraiture with his graphic vocabulary.
How does this fit KAWS's appropriation practice?
KAWS appropriates not only cartoon mascots but also fashion, advertising, and celebrity imagery; adding his gloves to a Kate Moss image marks it as his own.
Is this connected to Pop art history?
The celebrity-portrait subject echoes the Pop tradition of figures like Warhol, while KAWS filters it through his cartoon-derived motifs.
Is this a signed limited edition?
It is presented as a 'First Edition' print. Confirm the signature, edition size, and authentication documentation directly before purchase.
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