Is Cara the new Kate?

Delevigne is rolling along in Moss's wake, ready to step in when the time comes, says Sue de Groot

Marc Jacobs held a press conference this week to unveil his anniversary collection of one-size-fits-all aluminium cans for Diet Coke. After running out of questions to ask about fizzy beverages, reporters begged for the skinny on Jacobs's favourite models, specifically whether Kate Moss, 39, will be shoved off her Louis Vuitton scratching post by Britain's new belle, 19-year-old Cara Delevigne.

Jacobs responded like a true diplomat. "I think Cara's Cara and Kate's Kate," he said. "I mean, I love Cara. She's a sweetheart, a beautiful girl, but I think there's only one Kate . well, there are two Kates in England."

Asked to elaborate on Moss's appeal, he said: "I think she's just a really stylish girl. It's so hard to describe when somebody is stylish rather than fashionable. You know, you can't really quite put your finger on it. It's just that they have something that is so unique and special and personal. And I think that Kate's sort of attitude towards life and her character and the way she dresses are really very specific to her. You can't quite narrow it down to 'things'. It's just a way of being. There's an honesty and a kind of integrity; something that makes her so unique and special - and obviously that appeals to many people otherwise she wouldn't be as iconic as she is."

When praising Delevigne, he stopped sounding as though he'd just swallowed a press release and became warmly animated. "She's a silly goose," he said. "She has a great energy. She turned up to the Vuitton show wearing a zebra outfit from Madagascar, a onesie. She'd been traipsing round Paris all evening in it. You've got to love a girl like that. It's rare in life that you meet a person who doesn't care. It sets a good example."

Moss need not fear, however, she's still the designer's best friend. "I like everything about her," he said. "I never see her as a rebellious girl; she's just honest. She has no shame or guilt about anything she does. Before Kate, there was this preconceived idea of what beauty was and she changed that."

Delevigne, it seems, also lacks any sense of shame. Her Twitter profile describes her as "a professional human being who loves eyebrows and playing the drums".