by Naomi Campbell fans will be able to tap into the model’s heart – and mind – with the new exhibition “Naomi: In Fashion” at the Victoria & Albert Museum, which runs from 22 June to 6 April.
It was Edward Enninful, the former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, who came up with the idea for a show dedicated to the supermodel, who is also one of his closest friends.
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“Although Black female designers, artists and performers, ‘Naomi: In Fashion’ featured in several shows and exhibitions such as ‘Diva’ or ‘Africa Fashion’. the V&A’s first major solo show dedicated to a Black woman,” says Sonnet Stanfill, senior curator of fashion at the V&A who worked with Campbell on the exhibition.
The show will feature a variety of looks from the supermodel’s long career, including a striped Kenneth Ize dress from the fall 2020 runway show; Yves Saint Laurent’s feathered cocktail dress from his fall 1987 collection, and the beautifully embellished Alexander McQueen dress she wore to the Fashion Awards in 2019.
Then there are the famous Vivienne Westwood nine-inch platforms that Campbell was wearing when she fell during the brand’s 1993 fall show, “Anglomania.”
“The shoes were acquired by the V&A soon after that famous fall and have since been shown for the first time with the tartan skirt and velvet jacket and pink feather boa that established the ensemble on the catwalk,” says Stanfill.
Another piece on display is John Galliano’s panther print dress from the designer’s fall 1996 collection, The Baby Maker, which the model wore on the runway. There is also a gray two-piece suit with a matching coat from Boss, who are sponsoring the V&A exhibition.
Although Campbell never dreamed that a day like this would come, she is taking care of many of her wardrobe pieces, and keeping them safe.
She still has a few things from when she was 16 and remembers the first piece by the late Tunisian couturier Azedine Alaïa, a purple bodysuit with a skirt.
Each piece in the exhibition has significance and sentimental value for the model.
“It’s very difficult to say that there is one particular piece that is my favorite because I put in the time, even if it was just a fitting, it’s time to believe in the creativity of the designers you’re working with. That’s commitment,” says Campbell.
“There is nothing strategic about my career. Believe it or not, people may think it is but there is nothing strategic about it. I’m not a strategic person. It was thoughts, but it is real [about] trusting my higher power and being open to the flow of life, and what it will give you,” she says with precision.
When she says anything, her words are carefully chosen with poise and there is no detail in her speech.
Campbell clarifies that this exhibition is in a way her biography of her children.
“My children will see this one day and that’s why I’m telling the stories clearly, it’s important that they understand what mom used to be and who she worked for,” she says.
“There are some personal things of mine that I have added. I wanted it to be very cozy. It’s not humongous and it’s just personality,” Campbell says, sipping her ginger ale.
The exhibition also features personal letters written by Campbell and letters she received from designers, magazine covers and video footage.
The exhibition features three magazine covers that Enninful believes are chapters in Campbell’s trajectory as a model and woman.
One of them is a Taxi magazine cover from 1987, the model’s cover debut, which Enninful remembers vividly because it was a time when there weren’t many Black women on magazine covers.
“I somehow knew from that moment that we would be friends,” he says.
Another feature is Campbell who fronts Vogue Italia’s The Black Issue in 2008 curated by Franca Sozzani photographed by Steven Meisel and styled by Enninful.
“I wanted to pay tribute to the legions of Black women who were shaping the industry, but who, at the time, were often underrepresented. If anything [we] went against [the] the idea that Black models don’t sell,” he says.
The last one is the British Vogue cover of Campbell with her daughter, which she did not reveal, which Enninful says is a testament to their close bond.
Enninful pulled the strings for the exhibition by calling the director of the V&A, Tristram Hunt, with the offer.
“He basically said yes on the spot,” recalls Enninful, who helped curate the image selection.
Campbell admits the pressure is on and it’s a great feeling to put on a show.
“It’s amazing and it’s an incredible honor and I’m really grateful. More people keep saying to me, ‘Do you understand? Do you understand? Do you understand?’ I’m a bit more scared, but what I want people to take away from it is that it’s a personal expression of me,” she says, wearing a relaxed black Chanel suit paired with pearl necklaces and white hotel slippers.
The model, who turned 54 at the end of May, admits she hadn’t made any real birthday plans to mark the occasion and that the V&A exhibition itself feels like 20 birthdays in one.
“And now I’m just my daughter’s mother. That’s what I am. That’s it,” says Campbell.
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