Naomi Campbell is getting her flowers.
The 53-year-old supermodel’s groundbreaking career will be explored via a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Titled Naomi, the display is a “first of its kind” presentation that highlights Campbell’s “creative collaborations, activism and far-reaching cultural impact” through clothes, per the museum’s website.
The exhibition will include pieces from Campbell’s own closet as well as designs she’s worn on the runway. The show is set to kick off in June 2024 and tickets will be available soon.
Curator Sonnet Stanfill opened up about the exhibition to Vogue last week, explaining, “For me as a fashion historian, what is so fascinating is the way that her 40-year career intersects with the best of fashion. We’re telling the story of a career through clothes — clothes that are extraordinary.”
Stanfill added, “We are very much working with her to foreground her voice and her perspective. I think what has come through those conversations is that this isn’t really a retrospective, as although it’s looking back 40 years, she is still so active — she’s in ad campaigns, a coveted presence on the front row, and is regularly walking on the runway.”
Most recently, Campbell strutted her stuff on Torisheju’s spring/summer 2024 runway during Paris Fashion Week on October 3. A few days prior, she commanded attention in a plunging silver creation on the Alexander McQueen catwalk after gliding down the aisle of the Coperni preview on September 29.
Outside of back-to-back modeling gigs, Campbell made headlines for opening up about the early days of her career in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models, which also follows Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford. During episodes 1 and 2, Campbell recalled experiencing racism when moving to New York City from the U.K. to pursue modeling full-time.
“I would put my hands out many times on New York City streets, and the taxis would fly by,” Campbell shared. “Then Christy would put out the hand and they would stop. The guy would be like, ‘I don’t want to go to Brooklyn,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not going to Brooklyn.’ I was just like, why is he saying that? It didn’t strike me until, you know, Christy would have to stand out in front of me, get me a taxi to get it to work.”
Campbell and Turlington, now 54, went on to live together and the two created a strong bond. Campbell shared that Turlington and Evangelista, now 58 — who she fondly referred to as her “sisters” — advocated for her when she was met with discrimination.
“Naomi wasn’t always booked to do the shows,” Evangelista shared. “I didn’t understand. Naomi, I thought, was more beautiful, had a much more rocking body than I did and a better strut. [I was] like, ‘Why aren’t they booking her?’ I said to them, ‘If you don’t book her, you don’t get me.’”
Ahead of the docuseries’ September 20 release, Campbell unveiled an “intentional” collection with PrettyLittleThing. For the line, which celebrates Campbell’s “timeless fashion” sense, she tapped rising designers Victor Anate and Edvin Thompson.
“This collaboration is an extension of my commitment to create and promote opportunities for young, emerging designers,” Campbell said in an August 28, press release. “Within my collection, it was important to recognize and include some of the amazing talent that’s out there. I’m very intentional about using my platform to create opportunities for the next generation of creatives from around the world.”
Together, Campbell, Anate — a Nigerian and Jamaican artist who “draws inspiration from romance, literature and film” — and Thompson — a New York-based creative who received the CFDA Award for American Emerging Designer of the Year in 2021 — created pieces that blend elegance, simplicity and avant-garde themes.
