23 August, 2007
BY OUR CELEBRITY REPORTER
Naomi Campbell, the supermodel who
shot to fame in the international
fashion arena, after appearing on the
front cover of Vogue at the age of 17,
has accused magazines of “sidelining
black beauty.”
Naomi, 37, known for her temper
tantrums, said she was very dismayed
by the shortage of black models on the
front covers of glossy magazines. She
said she is planning to set up an
agency in Kenya to give the black
models their due and scout for talents
among modeling agencies in Nairobi.
Naomi,
who has a very lucrative career as one
of the world’s most famous black
models, was speaking at the luxury
hotel owned by former boyfriend
and Italian billionaire Flavio
Briatore, head of the Renault Formula
One team.
The model, from south London, became
one of the most famous faces in the
fashion industry in the 1990s, and
appeared on the front of British
magazine Vogue seven times following
her debut appearance in 1987.
However, since Naomi appeared on the
front cover of Vogue in August 2002,
no other black model has been
similarly promoted, which prompted her
to remark during her trip to Nairobi:
“Black models are being sidelined by
the major modeling agencies. It is a
pity that people don’t appreciate
black beauty. Even myself, I get a raw
deal from my own country. For example,
I hardly come on the front pages of
the London Vogue magazine. Only white
models, some of whom are not as
prominent as I am, are put on splash
pages. I don’t want to quit modeling
until I find that black models get
equal prominence and recognition by
the world media.”
Anya James, 20, a black model from
London and a former contestant on
Channel Five’s reality show Make me a
Supermodel, said what Naomi said
was true. Anya explained: “From my
experience as a black model, I have to
work 10 times as hard. For example, at
castings, I make sure I look 110% and
that I’m on my best form. You hardly
ever see a black model in the public
eye, but no one seems to be speaking
up about this imbalance.”
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