London’s Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington will launch a new exhibition honouring the life and extensive career of one of the original ‘90s Supermodels: Naomi Campbell.
The exhibition will run from 22 June 2024 until 6 April 2025. This will be the first time the V&A has organised an exhibit around a model. Campbell sculpted her reputation by appearing on countless catwalks, participating in hundreds of campaigns, and working with major industry titans, prestigious photographers, and designers during her 40-year reign.
Now, the magic of her success that was captured on camera, will be available for visitors of the museum to see in the flesh. Succinctly named Naomi the new exhibit will tell the story of one of the most recognisable and successful models in history.
It was an “honour to be asked by the V&A to share my life in clothes with the world”
Naomi Campbell
‘Naomi’ will display more than 100 different pieces of clothing that have been worn by the model during her impressive four-decade-long career. Many of these have been loaned to the museum by designers such as Chanel, Virgil Abloh, Alexander McQueen, and more.
There will also be an installation of significant fashion photography, curated by British Vogue’s editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.
Major figures that have impacted Campbell’s life and passions such as Nelson Mandela and Azzedine Alaïa, with whom Campbell had a very personal relationship, will also feature in the exhibit.
The curator of the show Sonnet Stanfill believes that ‘Naomi Campbell’s extraordinary career intersects with the best of high fashion.’
Campbell has been working with Stanfill, to bring the exhibit to life. The theme for Naomi won’t simply be the most beautiful clothes, but rather the pieces that tell a ‘layered story about a career and life that started in London.’
The brand and household name that is Naomi started when the model was scouted at the age of just 15 in Covent Garden. Three years later, in 1988 Campbell made history as the first black model to appear on the cover of Paris Vogue.
With such gravitas, Campbell was able to become the activist and cultural leader that we know today. The model joined the Black Girls Coalition in 1989 and has campaigned for the Diversity Coalition since 2013, alongside Iman and Bethann Hardison, to champion diversity on the catwalk.
Naomi will also touch on her encouragement of emerging creatives, as seen through the global initiative Emerge, which she founded last year.
The exhibit will honour her works not just as a fashion industry stalwart but also as a philanthropist and as one of the most influential figures of our generation. It will undoubtedly host a vast array of Campbell’s modelling milestones.
September has been momentous for the original supermodels: Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and of course, Naomi Campbell. The quartet reunited for Vogue’s cover and closed ‘Vogue World: London’ hand-in-hand.
These timeless women also starred in the Apple TV+ docuseries ‘The Super Models’, which charts their legacy and rampant rise to success in the ‘90s.
Campbell also just concluded yet another remarkable fashion month, during which she closed Sarah Burton’s final Alexander McQueen show wearing a stunning silver ensemble. With this exhibition lined up for next year, there is no doubt that 2024 will be just as memorable.
Naomi Campbell on Vogue. Featured image: Vogue
Featured image: V&A
Third-year Journalism student at the University of Stirling.
