NAOMI: In Fashion explores the unequalled 40-year career of fashion model and cultural icon Naomi Campbell. After being scouted in Covent Garden aged just 15, Campbell quickly rose to prominence in the industry, and made history a few years later when, at 18, she became the first Black model to feature on the cover of Paris Vogue, in August 1988.

Produced in collaboration with Campbell and foregrounding her voice and perspective, NAOMI: In Fashion is the first exhibition to celebrate the skill and contribution of an individual model to the fashion industry. The exhibition draws upon Campbell’s own extensive wardrobe of haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles from key moments in her career, along with loans from designer archives and objects from the V&A’s collections. Woven throughout is Campbell’s activism, having advocated for equity from an early age, joining the Black Girls Coalition in 1989 and fronting the 2007 ‘A Black Issue’ of Vogue Italia, calling for diversity on the catwalk.

Naomi Campbell is at the V&A, photograph, by Marco Bahler, 2023, London, England. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The exhibition opens with high-impact clips of Campbell on the catwalk, illustrating her legendary ‘walk’. The first section, ‘Becoming Naomi’, explores Campbell’s childhood and grounds her later success in her early dance training. Born in 1970 in south-London, she aspired to a career on stage and performed in 1980s music videos for artists including Bob Marley and Culture Club. Her life changed when, aged 15, she was approached by model agent Beth Boldt while out shopping with school friends. Two years later she would be on the front cover of Vogue and walking for acclaimed designers in London, Paris, Milan and New York.

Naomi Campbell as a young girl. © Martin Brading

Campbell entered the field of fashion modelling when it was on the cusp of change. By the early 1990s, the term supermodel – or model turned international celebrity – was widely used in direct reference to Campbell and a small group of peers. Fashion had become mass entertainment and Campbell was at the centre of this excitement, her talents being championed by leading designers such as John Galliano, Gianni Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Vivienne Westwood, and Yves Saint Laurent. She became known for her superlative presence on the catwalk while her work with leading photographers created some of the era’s most memorable images. Simultaneously she moved beyond the world of fashion, performing in music videos, launching her own perfume, and becoming a champion of diversity.

The exhibition opens 22nd June 2024 until 6th April 2025.

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