New exhibition: Naomi – the original Supermodel

‘At an early age, I understood what it meant to be black. You had to be twice as good’

That’s supermodel Naomi Campbell talking to The Guardian in 2016, in an article accompanied with many rare photos from her growing up in south London. And yes, together with  Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz and Cindy Crawford she is one of the original supermodel – those long legged beauties who claimed they would not get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. Naomi is also the model who paved the way for greater diversity on the catwalk, and the first black model to appear on the cover of TIME magazine, French Vogue and Russian Vogue as well as the first British black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue. Now she is also the subject of a new exhibition at V&A: “NAOMI: In Fashion”, an absolute treat if you’re planning a trip to London this summer. The exhibition explores the unequalled 40-years of her career as both model, activist and pioneer.

Naomi at Chanel’s FW 24/25 haute couture runway show.

Born in 1970 in south London, Naomi Campbell is a trailblazer in the field, her celebrated ability to ‘walk’ the catwalk – Vogue once described it as her “magic runway boom-boom” along with the special alchemy she creates through collaborations with every major fashion house, fashion publication and leading fashion photographers, ensure that after four decades in the fashion industry, Campbell continues to star in catwalk shows, advertising campaigns and editorial fashion shoots around the world. In parallel, Campbell’s cultural leadership, activism and championing of emerging creatives transcend the traditional parameters of the fashion model role. Born in south-London Campbell aspired to a career on stage and performed in 1980s music videos for artists including Bob Marley and Culture Club. Her life changed when, aged 15, she was approached by model agent Beth Boldt while out shopping with schoolfriends; two years later she would be on the front cover of Vogue and walking for acclaimed designers in London, Paris, Milan and New York.

A supermodel is born: On the cover for British Vogue December 1987

A feathered cocktail dress from Yves Saint Laurent’s autumn/winter 1987 collection is on display; when she walked for Saint Laurent, she marked her entry into the upper echelons of the modelling industry. Examples of Campbell’s earliest covers are also on display, including the August 1988 cover of Vogue Paris, Patrick Demarchelier – she was the first black model to cover the magazine. By the early 1990s, fashion had become mass entertainment. Campbell, who was still in her teens, was at the centre of this excitement and leading designers loved her. Her collaborations with leading photographers in this period created some of the most memorable fashion images of all time.

Above: Shot by Patrick Demarchelier in East Hampton in 1989. It was Naomi’s first Vogue cover.

Between 1998 and 2008, Campbell was as much a fixture of the tabloids as she was of the glossies. She admitted assaulting a personal assistant, Georgina Galanis, with a mobile phone; throwing a gem-encrusted BlackBerry at a housekeeper, Ana Scolavino; and according to The Guardian assaulting two police officers at Heathrow, in a row over lost luggage that earned her a five-year ban from British Airways. When sentenced to community service and sweeping the streets of New York, Campbell kept a diary for W magazine that was accompanied by photographs by Steven Klein of her reporting for duty wearing a floor-length, silver-sequinned Dolce & Gabbana gown. The message of that image – you can bring me down to earth, but you will never humble me – was repeated in 2010, when she gave her infamous “blood diamonds” testimony at the trial of former African warlord Charles Taylor, dressed in the queenly beehive and sharp lemon pastels of a southern belle, and described her time in the witness box as “a big inconvenience”.

No one in the industry who knows Campbell will tell you she is a pussycat or a pushover, but many speak highly of her loyalty, her commitment to causes she believes in. The refrain most often repeated about her by people who know her well is that she is a one-off, “there’s no one like her”. Her friend Donatella Versace once said of Campbell: “They say she is spoiled and annoying. But she’s not. She’s very determined and very generous, and these are two qualities that nobody ever talks about.”

Posing at the Chanel runway spectacle in Paris.

The exhibition is produced in collaboration with Campbell, it is is the first exhibition of its kind and draws upon Campbell’s own extensive wardrobe of haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles from key moments in her career along with loans from designer archives and objects from the V&A’s collections. Highlights include a dramatic 1989 Thierry Mugler car-inspired corset, Campbell’s look from Sarah Burton’s last Alexander McQueen show, a pink Valentino ensemble worn at the 2019 Met Gala and a pair of staggeringly high Vivienne Westwood platform shoes worn by Campbell during her famous 1993 catwalk fall. In addition to stunning garments and fashion accessories, fashion photography features prominently. Striking imagery by leading photographers such as Campbell Addy, Nick Knight, Peter Lindbergh and Steven Meisel, form a selection of photography curated by Edward Enninful OBE.

The exhibition also recognises Campbell’s mentors including prominent public figures such as Nelson Mandela, who inspired her to use her platform for social change. Campbell has advocated for equity from an early age, joining the Black Girls Coalition in 1989 and fronting the 2008 ‘black issue’ of Vogue Italia. Along with Bethann Hardison and Iman, she has also campaigned for The Diversity Coalition since 2013 to champion diversity on the catwalk. The exhibition also spotlights her on- going active support of emerging creatives, through events such as Arise Fashion Week and her global initiative EMERGE, founded in 2022.