Naomi CampbellThe road to success was paved with obstacles, partly because of the color of her skin.
The 53-year-old catwalk queen opened up about the dark side of her triumphant fashion career during episodes 1 and 2 of the new Apple TV+ documentary The supermodelswhich explores her fame alongside fellow models Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista And Cindy Crawford – who also share their stories from the ’80s and ’90s.
Campbell, who grew up in an Afro-Jamaican household in Britain, recalled experiencing racism early on, but said it did not affect her as much until she moved to the US to pursue modeling.
When she was five years old, Campbell was called the N-word in elementary school. “I wouldn’t accept being bullied at school because of the color of my skin,” Campbell explained. “My mother paid my school fees just like everyone else. I had every right to be there, so take your bullying somewhere else, that’s how I felt.”
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Naomi Campbell wears a Yves Saint Laurent dress at his Fall-Winter 1987-1988 fashion show in Paris.
Pierre Vauthey/Sygma/Sygma via Getty ImagesHowever, things changed when Campbell moved to New York. “At that time, modeling was more or less looked down upon in my family. My mother had no idea that I was doing anything with it,” she says.
Despite her mother’s concerns, Campbell persevered. She said her mother warned her about racism in America and prejudice in the South.
“I came to understand culturally that I had to work very hard to feel accepted,” Campbell recalls. “There was no way I could go home with my tail between my legs. I would go further and further.”
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Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington on May 31, 1992 in London.
Dave Bennett/Getty ImagesStill, it wasn’t easy, and adjusting to life in a new place, as a black woman, made it difficult. “I would often put my hands out on the streets of New York City and the taxis would fly by,” Campbell said. “Then Christy reached out and they stopped. The guy would say, ‘I don’t want to go to Brooklyn,’ and I say, ‘I don’t go to Brooklyn.’ I just thought, why is he saying that? It just occurred to me, you know, Christy would have to stand up for me and get me a cab to get him to work.
Campbell and Turlington, now 54, moved in together and the two created a strong bond. Campbell said Turlington and Evangelista, now 58 – whom she affectionately called her “sisters” – advocated for her when she faced discrimination.
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Naomi Campbell models a striped suit circa 1990.
Michel Arnaud/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images“Naomi wasn’t always booked to do the shows,” Evangelista said. ‘I did not understand. Naomi, I thought, was prettier, had a much rockier body than me and a better attitude. [I was] like, ‘Why don’t they book her?’ I told them, ‘If you don’t book her, you won’t get me.’
Campbell praised Evangelista’s support, saying that Evangelista and Turlington “absolutely put themselves on the line [me]”, which she says kept her going on the most difficult days.
Although Campbell suffered some setbacks, she has since become one of the most influential models in the world. She was the first black model to ever make a cover Vogue France in August 1988 and the first black model to open a Prada show in 1997. She has starred in numerous beauty campaigns and can still be found on the catwalk.