Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is one of the biggest supermodels of all time, and has walked runways for major designers and brands, including Versace, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, Jean Paul Gaultier and Oscar de la Renta.
She received the Fashion Icon Award from the CFDA in 2018, a beauty contract with Nars cosmetics and in 2023, became a face of the Victoria's Secret Icons collection.
Campbell has been gracing runways and magazine covers ever since her modeling career started when she was 15 years old. Before that, she had intended on becoming a dancer, and trained in ballet.
Campbell's mother, Valerie Morris, was a modern dancer, and at three years old, Campbell began attending the Barbara Speake Stage School. At eight, she appeared in the music video for Bob Marley's "Is This Love" and at 10, she was admitted to the Italia Conti Academy of Arts to study ballet.
On her path to becoming a ballerina, Campbell was scouted by Beth Boldt of Synchro Model Agency, and shortly after that, appeared on the cover of British Elle.
That cover catapulted Campbell's modeling career, and not long after that, she began walking the runways at Milan and Paris Fashion Week. By the late '80s she was so popular that she became part of what was known as "The Trinity" — the three most in-demand supermodels in the world.
Campbell also broke racial barriers: In December 1987, she became the first Black model on a British Vogue cover since 1966; in 1989, Campbell made history again as the first Black model on the cover of the September issue of American Vogue; In 1997, Campbell became the first Black model to open a show for Prada.
Campbell has taken on small acting roles in TV and film, including on "Miami Rhapsody," "Girl 6" and "New York Undercover." She even had a recurring role on the hit primetime series "Empire" for two seasons, where she played fashion designer Camilla Marks.
She's also worked in reality television for modeling competition series "The Face," alongside Coco Rocha and Karolina Kurkova.
Today, Campbell continues to model and has strutted the catwalk at London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks. She also appeared in the Apple TV+ documentary "The Super Models," chronicling the careers of Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Turlington and Evangelista.
Campbell will be the subject of the Victoria and Albert Museum's solo summer exhibition in 2024.
Naomi Campbell
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