‘The first time I heard about Naomi was through her agent, Beth Boldt – she reached out to ask if I’d represent Naomi. I went to London to meet her and her parents; Naomi was 14 at the time and, being that young, she was kind of quiet and shy – but she was proper in a way that you don’t normally see with kids that age. We stayed in touch and when she first came to New York, she contacted me right away as I was the only person she knew in the US. She had come to do her first ever photo shoot with Steven Meisel – and from this moment I was always in her life.
She has always looked at me as her mother. I didn’t see myself as a mentor or even her friend, although there was always love and respect. Instead, I became her parental guide. Her mother Valerie even referred to me as Naomi’s ‘American mum’. In the end it was a good thing that I didn’t end up being her model agent, as it meant our relationship was different – it was pure. Agents come and go, but I was always a constant in Naomi’s life.
I helped her navigate the modelling industry, but she always knew what she wanted to do. She always stood up for herself, or called out what she thought was inappropriate – if she wasn’t being paid the same amount as another girl, for example. She had the attitude, but she was also an It girl. She had ‘it’. She had a certain kind of walk and a great body, but she had a shyness that was endearing to a lot of people, too. She became a muse to many. Underneath all her quietness, she was smart about what she saw for herself and what she liked. I liked that she and Cindy [Crawford] became very close and she became part of that supermodel movement. It was a unique situation to witness all of them.
One of my favourite memories of Naomi was when she got her first apartment. She was around 16 or 17 and I was so impressed with the way it looked and how she’d set it up. She doesn’t remember this but she used to hang her dresses up on the mouldings on walls. I had never seen anything like this before. You walked into the living room and the clothes were hung around the room like art. She always wanted her clothes to be part of an exhibition.
Another proud moment was her work with the Black Girls Coalition, something I set up in 1988 to give advocacy to Black models. She called me from the airport to tell me she had got all these models together to go to South Africa to support a Nelson Mandela project we were doing. I knew it was something she had learned to do from how we worked at the Coalition, and she was inspired by that. With Naomi there are of course many fashion memories and great runway shows, but those are the moments when you really see that someone can be a philanthropist. She is truly someone who can use her personality and character to gather people together and make a difference in someone else’s life.
Over the years Naomi has overcome adversity by having complete self- confidence. She really does believe in herself. She has a drive and ambition that a lot of people can’t see – the audience only sees the result. She knows she will get through a bad moment – she really is someone who was meant to be and do all she has done. I used to say Naomi has 10 lives. A cat has nine, but Naomi has 10. She’s always going to come back. You can knock her down, but the fact of it is, she’s going to come back up. She has a natural sense of fight in her. I’ve always called her my soldier. Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival. That has always been my token expression for Naomi.’
What can visitors expect from NAOMI in Fashion?
Words: Renee Washington
The exhibition, sponsored by BOSS, will unveil Campbell's extensive wardrobe of haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles, offering a captivating journey through her remarkable four-decade career in the fashion industry. The exhibit will chronicle her trajectory from being scouted in Covent Garden at the age of 15 to making history at 18 as the first Black model to grace the cover of Paris Vogue in August 1988.
The collection will also feature never seen before paraphernalia, collected over the years, as the model hopes to ‘show an intimate side of myself people haven’t seen before.’
This is the first time that a model will be the focus of an exhibition at the V&A and the visual journey will be complemented by striking imagery captured by renowned photographers including Nick Knight, Steven Meisel, and Tim Walker, thoughtfully curated by Edward Enninful OBE - with Campbell's personal involvement, of course.
The exhibition goes beyond fashion, acknowledging mentors like Nelson Mandela who influenced Campbell. It also celebrates her advocacy work, highlighting her pivotal role in joining the Black Girls Coalition in 1989 and championing increased diversity on the catwalk. ‘People wonder why I still do what I do,’ Campbell said at the press conference. ‘When I look at the catwalk collections now, I get nervous that we are sliding back. I stay doing what I do because my work is not done.’
Sonnet Stanfill, Senior Curator, Fashion, V&A, said, 'Naomi Campbell’s extraordinary career intersects with the best of high fashion. She is recognised worldwide as a supermodel, activist, philanthropist, and creative collaborator, making her one of the most prolific and influential figures in contemporary culture. We’re delighted to be working with Naomi Campbell on this project and to celebrate her career with our audiences.'
When will the NAOMI in Fashion exhibition open?
Tickets to NAOMI in Fashion, scheduled to open on 22 June 2024 and run until 6 April 2025, are available for pre-sale now.