The British capital hosts a lot of fashion events every month and one of them, London Fashion Week, is a dream for many models. One of the most unique figures in the history of the local fashion industry is Naomi Campbell. The model gained incredible popularity in the 1990s. She charmed everyone with her beauty and was remembered for her enchanting returns to the podium. What was the key to her success and how did she manage to charm everyone? Learn more at londonka.
How did the mother’s profession influence the young Naomi Campbell and what were her first steps in the modelling business?
Naomi Campbell’s childhood wasn’t so happy. She was born on May 22, 1970. Her father left the family when her mother, Valerie Campbell, was pregnant, so the daughter never met him. Her mother was a ballet dancer and often travelled with the theatre troupe. Therefore, Naomi rarely saw her and spent her childhood with her grandmother. Despite all this, Valerie Campbell passed her creative potential and character to Naomi. From the age of seven, the girl started to appear in video clips, and when Naomi turned ten, she entered a ballet school in London. Probably she would have connected her life with ballet, if not for an interesting incident. At the age of 15, the head of a modelling agency invited her to a photo shoot. It became the beginning of Naomi Campbell’s career as one of the most famous supermodels in the world.
Further development of the career and the secret of Naomi’s success
The first successes in Naomi Campbell’s career happened shortly before her 16th birthday when she appeared on the cover of the British magazine Elle. After her birthday, she decided to conquer Paris. In 1988, she became the first black model whose photo was published on the cover of the French magazine Vogue. However, the model repeatedly faced fierce racial discrimination on her path to worldwide popularity. In her early career, she received strong support from her colleagues. Later, that topic gave impetus to the launch of The Diversity Coalition, which aimed to combat racial bias in the modelling business. In general, the model frequently expressed her opinion on that issue during various events and interviews.
Naomi Campbell’s career reached its height in the 1990s. At that time, she received many offers to sign contracts, collaborate with famous designers and be published in the most popular magazines. In addition, she was recognized as a supermodel. Besides modelling, she starred in video clips and had episodic roles in series and films. One of them was George Michael’s video clip Freedom! ’90. An interesting fact is that the Disney character Pocahontas was inspired by Naomi Campbell and the Hasbro company created a doll, which was dedicated to her too. At the beginning of the 21st century, the model took some breaks and then returned to the catwalk again. Naomi Campbell managed to travel almost all over the world. She was invited to America, Australia, France, Italy and many other countries of the world. She never stood aside from charitable activities. She organised fashion shows and donated their proceeds to help children. In 2018, Naomi Campbell received one of the most significant awards in her lifetime, the Fashion Icon Award. Her feline eyes and impeccable figure paved the way to world popularity and were etched in the history of fashion.