Going Dark: Naomi Campbell Walked So That Representation Can Run
If you know anything about the fashion industry, then you will know about the original supermodels of runway. Known as the ‘big five’, these five women were known as the most recognisable women in the world during the 90s. These women include Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and most importantly, Naomi Campbell. With their iconic haircuts, long legs and an institution of celebrity status, these women still dominate the industry now. These women worked hard for their place in the material world, but for Naomi Campbell it was different – as the only black supermodel to take centre-stage in the white-dominated industry, her placement in business was fundamental for impact; “at an early age, I understood what it meant to be black. You had to be twice as good.” Naomi Campbell started her modelling career at the age of 13, where she was introduced by her mother via lessons on how to walk. By the age of 16, Campbell was signed by Synchro [the agency] and was booked internationally. Her first big shoot was with British Elle, where Campbell was shot in New Orleans wearing prairie-style dresses. Campbell was also the first black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue and French Vogue, creating her first steppingstones in a career as a supermodel who is impactful and breaking century-old standards.
Naomi Campbell in her first Vogue cover, 1989.
Now, Naomi Campbell is known as one of the most influential and powerful supermodels in the world. Campbell has built an empire in fashion, where designers, models and fashion-connoisseurs refuse to work with others who fail to meet the basic levels of representation, inclusivity, and diversity. After her friend and mentor Yves Saint Laurent threatened to withdraw his advertisement from the French Vogue magazine, Naomi was invited to feature on the cover. After receiving racial discrimination from Dolce & Gabanna in 1997, Campbell’ friends and supermodels Turlington and Evangelista told them, “If you don’t use Naomi, you don’t get us.” Now, the same brands beg for Naomi to feature. Campbell has been awarded the CFDA Fashion Icon Award in 2018, the Glamour Award for Outstanding Contribution, the Glamour Award for TV Personality, and the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Icon Award in 2019. Campbell has interviewed some of the most powerful people in the world, including the former president Lula da Silva of Brazil and the president of Russia Vladimir Putin, unafraid to voice her opinions; “I’m not in any way political, but I like meeting powerful people. I like to hear about their struggles and find out what they’ve done to change their countries for the better… I often think I would have liked to have interviewed Kim Jong-il of North Korea before he died, if only to find out why he shut his country off from the rest of the world.”
Naomi Campbell has always recognised racism when approached by prejudice and discrimination. “I never used to say the word racism” Campbell says in an interview with Vogue. “I just used to say, it’s territorialism, I never wanted people to say that I used that as an excuse, that I was throwing that word out.” Famously, her relationship with model Tyra Banks has been ostracised and exaggerated to the extreme, with the battle of the ‘token’ destroying their relationship in the name of the ‘angry black woman’. “Oh my god, [the angry Black woman label] has been used against me so many times. I said to someone recently that it has been applied towards me so much and what for – to silence me? Well, here I am.” In an Interview between Campbell and Banks, they both discuss how the media blew up their tension in the media. The newspapers would exaggerate their relationship, creating storylines that were fabricated to further exert their relationship which were untrue. Even in the interview, Tyra mentions that she fears Naomi “till this day” but feels safe when talking to her one-to-one. This is a by-product of white media, which has demonised Naomi as an aggressive woman because she knows how to stand her ground. Campbell is patient, listens carefully and responds matter-of-factly, even when told that she had done something she hadn’t done. Media has weaponised Campbell’s ability to speak back to the point where Tyra Banks, a black woman who was also demonised by the media, feared her fellow model who was in an identical situation to her. Racism makes black people have trust issues, even with fellow black people who are going through the same discourses. Now, their relationship can never be mended.
Part of Naomi Campbells and Tyra Banks live interview, where they converse about their differences and media exaggerating their relationship.
Campbell has graced the covers of more than 500 magazines during her career, and have been featured in campaigns for Burberry, Prada, Versace, Chanel, Dolce & Gabanna, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino. She has appeared in countless TV shows, music videos and films, including ‘The Cosby Show’, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ Madonna’s ‘Erotica’, Bob Marley’s ‘Is This Love’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘In The Closet’. Naomi Campbell executive produced and appeared as a supermodel coach on acclaimed series ‘The Face’, in the USA where she brought in key fashion designers, photographers, publications, products and contest partners, and created unique, real life opportunities for the contestants. This is where Campbell is different from other celebrity producers. Many are labelled to be mentors who give others opportunities that would never be presented by themselves, but fall flat after the show due to their actual inability to create jobs for winners. Naomi doesn’t follow this, and mentors others to succession and excellence. Some mentee’s include Adut Akech and Alton Mason, who both now have heavily influential places in the fashion industry, and as powerful black models in still a white-dominated space, shifts the paradigm of greater black representation which can be traced to the start of Campbell’s career. Now, the response to combat racism is more direct and succinct. Naomi Campbell has helped contribute to that directness. As part of her continued journey for Black representation, Campbell has also been contributing to wide-ranging fundraising across the globe, but especially in South Africa.
Her charity work during 2018-2019 has been focused on bringing Africa to the forefront of the global fashion scene, harnessing talents of its citizens to turn the continent into a global powerhouse. In 2019, Campbell spoke at the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit, concluding that “The African continent is absolutely, one hundred and one percent, the future.” Campbell is pushing for Africa to be the next place to expand for fashion magazines including Vogue, showcasing African fabrics and textiles as a by-product of their under-represented success. On social media, she launched her hashtag #NaomiAfrica as a way of documenting her travels while shedding light on African creatives who are working on important causes. Most of her work with charities are working to end global poverty, such as Global Citizen, Doctors without borders and Save the Children. Campbell believes that no-one should be experiencing extreme poverty, hunting down systemic causes of poverty and ending them while encouraging sustainable economic growth in impoverish regions. “African fashion is on the rise, and it’s about time!”
Naomi Campbell and Nelson Mandela, her personal mentor and co-worker for charities in Africa.
With last year being a turning point for many fashion brands and their relationship with black people due to the Black Lives Matter Movement, Naomi Campbell is disappointed that it has taken this long. This industry must be inclusive if it is to reset in a positive way when it comes to representation, but with Campbell speaking out on this subject for decades as one of the biggest supermodels globally, how can we be sure that these businesses are taking accountability for their contribution to hatred, prejudice and discrimination? “It’s kind of embarrassing, in 2020, to finally have all this happen, to wake up to that. You should have been doing that already.” Campbell says in an interview in Lagos. “I’ve been pushing this thing for so many years, so now, for me, there is no change. What I’m doing is exactly what I was doing before this movement started- and I’m going to continue. It’s what I believe in.” Rather than focusing on businesses and corporations however, Campbell chooses to focus on the shifted conversation by the youth. “They have found their voices, and they are speaking out and demanding what they want. They are change.” This is true, with more black models speaking out against their experiences with others. More than ever, black people are discussing how they are treated in relation to getting ready, with many white hairdressers unable to do their hair, to opportunities, where CEO’s of fashion brands find easy fault in black models and cancel them. Young people are speaking their minds and expecting respect, something the fashion industry has not seen in a while given their constant usage of exploitation.
As someone from South London, Naomi Campbell has excelled in growth and professionalism, and it makes me smile as someone from the same area. Even though I will never be able to grasp how impactful her work has been as someone who is white, I can see how beneficial she has been in influencing the youth to speak their mind in the fashion industry. Many white people underestimate how powerful white organisations and fashion brands have been in suppressing black voices historically, as if white privilege and racism has not existed until BLM. White people have blinded themselves with ego, determining their positions in fashion as success stories rather than tight-casting exploitation. Naomi Campbell has transformed the industry completely through her unprecedented levels of assertion and professionalism in terms of representation, showing others that you can be professional and speak your mind when being discriminated against. Her success story will be spoken about for generations and will forever leave an impact on the terrain of representation and inclusivity. Her sheer brilliance and contribution to the fashion industry will never be forgotten and has given hope to many younger black people who dream to work in the fashion industry. Naomi walked so representation can run. She is the blueprint.
Naomi Campbell, Vogue 2020.