NAOMI

Naomi Campbell, one of the most recognisable names in the fashion industry, now has her own exhibition dedicated to her displayed at the V&A museum in London. It takes you through the timeline of her life and career, giving mention to those who supported and worked alongside her, including Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace and Edward Enninful amongst many others.

The exhibition followed her early career, from her being scouted as a 15-year-old schoolgirl window shopping in Covent Garden, London, past her being the first black woman on the cover of French Vogue, through to her now being one of the biggest supermodels in the fashion industry, and now the first to have curated her own dedicated exhibition at the V&A.

Naomi Campbell: The first black woman on the cover of Vogue France, she credits this moment to Yves Saint Laurent, who had threatened to pull his marketing from the magazine unless Campbell was the cover

   

Naomi has made waves for joining the line of many celebrities who are often referred to as a Diva, with this idea of Naomi being a Diva still being fuelled today, by her apparent lack of interest towards current ‘supermodels’ and her heavy involvement in her work. As well as an advocate for causes such as funds for AIDS research, and charity work in South Africa, commencing in 1993, alongside Nelson Mandela who, as a result, called her his ‘honorary granddaughter’ for her ongoing activism. As a black woman she had to fight for her place in the industry, being underpaid compared to her white peers, fighting for her right, and building the stepping stones for those who would come after her. 

      

The exhibition contains things Naomi considers as important to her and her journey, starting off with her pointe shoes from her younger days when she trained at Italia Conti, progressing to the realistic dressing room of her own — in which Naomi herself had great involvement in displaying — along with the many outfits worn throughout her career, a notable one being the Vivienne Westwood 1993 runway fall outfit — yes, the shoes were massive!

As part of the ‘Big Six’ from the 90s, Naomi is widely recognised as a Supermodel: a term which I think is thrown around too often. It was initially granted to those who had come from humble backgrounds, paving their own way in the industry, for this to happen, they would have to make a name for themselves, loudly. This painted models less as mannequins, but people. The world became infatuated with them, what they were eating, who they were with, what they were wearing, on and off the runway. For Naomi, this last one reigned true even during her hours of community service, where each day, she would be met by paparazzi, waiting to shoot a photo of her. In response, Naomi showed up to her last day of community service in a couture gown, now displayed at this exhibition (definitely one of my favourites to see).

I thoroughly enjoyed the gift shop at the end, and bought some sparkly pink hoop earrings, a keyring saying ’Supermodel’ — ironic, I know, given the last paragraph — and some portrait photos of Naomi, now displayed in my room. 

I would recommend going to visit this exhibition as it’s very informative, and not too long so was nice to do in a day alongside other activities — one of which will be discussed in my next blog post!

Would you go visit this exhibition? What are your thoughts on Naomi’s impact on the industry?