"I quit because I thought: 'I ... hate it'. I didn't want to have to say I'm a model ever again,'' Moss said in an interview with Britain's Time Out magazine.
The Londoner told the magazine the only way she could deal with life in the fashion industry was to "get out of it,'' in an apparent reference to her much-publicised battle with alcohol and drugs.
"In fashion, excess is not for creative purposes, whatever people may say. It is about escapism. You just have to get out of it to deal with it,'' Moss said.
"It was the only way you could go out night after night and do all these boring dinners. You're never allowed to be tired. It's a sin to be tired.''
But Moss, whose waifish frame and delicate features have adorned countless magazine covers over the last 10 years, was eventually persuaded to return to the job that made her a superstar and one of Britain's wealthiest women with an estimated fortune of 15 million pounds ($21.84 million).
Moss said that this time round, she was determined to do things differently and have more control over the type of work she did.
"I've made my mistakes and I've learned my lesson.''
