Supermodel Naomi Campbell on her 40 year career in fashion

[Music] by the early 1990s the term supermodel was coined and used in direct reference to nmy Campbell and a small group of fashion models turned International celebrities her iconic walk and work Beyond fashion championing diversity and amplifying various Charities elevated her Beyond The Runway Naomi in fashion is the first exhibition of its kind it's an honor and I'm totally in more of it and very grateful and feel very blessed what are you hoping people take away from the exhibition when when they go along to see I want them to see the workmanship the creatives that

I've gotten to work with of these four decades and the story The Narrative and to understand me as a person more coming from me you know I never normally do that and so this is a side where also appreciating The Artisans the the work that thousands of hours of workmanship that goes into the making the garments those Artisans we need to appreciate because they're being less and less and less few around the world and so for me it just takes my mind onto why I'm so focused on the merging markets and wanting to help those

creatives now and share my platform with them what do you think people will see of you that they they don't already know you mentioned that they'll be showing a side that few things that I'm going to show that I've never shown the collection will comprise of pieces taken from different points in your career so what's the story that's that's being told and what's the significance of the pieces it's you know we've got a lot of the creatives who are with us a lot of them who are no longer with us and I tell the story

behind each and every piece I remember when I just being in the room with it with with the clothes I remember what the scenario was when I wore it did the fitting for it what the designer said to me what show what happened during that show what happened after the show how did it become into my possession when they gave it to me I remember all of that amazing memory so that so my friends say it's a gift so my friends say we've got to talk about your legendary walk um what work goes into it

what why do you think it's so iconic site for me when I walk every outfit is different it's the outfit it's the Ambiance it's the music it's the whole surroundings it's what The Narrative of the show is about and I so lucky that my time was when there was a lot of Storytelling and I got to be part of this real big fantasy which I loved being a part of and we got to see the outfit it's made from scratch practically so it really was Couture in the real Couture sense and so this is the

things that I'm sharing because our relationships were so much more together with the designers when they got awards for their designs and their brands they would remember to invite us and keep us they wanted us to share in that happiness happy moment with them we were talking about your iconic walk um but there was one instance which I'm sure you remember where it it let you down and the heels let you down and the Vivian was can you call those heels you know what God bless her and may she rest in peace I love Vivian

Westwood loved her loved her loved her she was a woman of integrity and did not suffer fools and she stayed she had she kept her dignity to the very end in terms of stain true to who she was and I loved her for it um those were her signature shoes and if you didn't know how to walk in them then learn and I thought so it means that was a lesson to me never rest on your laurels Naomi just because you can walk in other heels doesn't mean you can walk in those I thought I

could and I learned the hard way I couldn't and I went down are they in the exhibition they've been living in the VNA for years they were in the VNA way before they ever thought of they'll be there in my show but they have lived there longer than anything of mine and the exhibition highlights your um work continued work that you do with upcoming creatives how important is that to you I mean I would I love everyone coming to see my exhibition but what I hope good that can come out of it is that we're

going to discover some great new Young Talent from around the world in your career what sort of challenges have you faced as a woman and as so we already know a black woman as as a black woman yes we have faced those challenges and for me I you know I was speaking earlier it's like a way of life because you become conditioned in a way to know you have to deal with it to the point where you could preempt and kind of like be proactive to get it out of the way and I found that

a lot of things I I dealt with that way like I I would see it coming so I was going to find a way to go around it go over it get through it and that's what I did and you've actively worked for more diversity in fashion haven't you I will that I mean I will stand for that as long as I'm anything to do with this business I will stand for that because that is something that's I think it has to be maintained and has to be it's ongoing um you can take two steps

forward and you can take two steps one step back and we can't allow that one step back do you think that it's moving forward in that direction I recently feel like it's gone one step back why is that the way the world is right now you know it's um we are in a different time where people feel they can come out and just say how they feel and it's uh it's whether you like it or not it's hard to just a hard reality you have been at the Forefront of the fight for um diversity um

I just wondered what your thoughts were on Frank Hester when he he said that uh seeing D in Abbot made him want to hate all black women and that she should be shot what were your thoughts disgusted ignorance at its finest is it um depressing those sort of sentiments when you're no it's not depressing to me it drives me what do you think is responsible for your longevity for decades in this industry and you are still highly sought after super model actually I've read Mega model is the way that you're being described now I don't

know but I do know that I cannot sit here and say to you oh we had a strategy and we followed it CU that's not true a lot of people do believe that's what I've done I had a strategy no when I wanted to stop for a while I would stop I wouldn't announce it I'd just go and say I'm going off to Africa I'm going here I'm going there um I just want to take time out um I do believe in order that you do do you still have to live your life so even

though I do what I do and it's a public job I still live my life and just finally is motherhood everything that you dreamt it would be it's great thank you has it completed you do you think it's great thank you Nami thank you so much for thank you so much Speak Us