The Victoria and Albert Museum is an undeniably iconic feature of London’s museum scene. It is home to some of the most intricate pieces of art and, as of over 100 years ago, has included fashion in its archives. The pieces displayed at V&A range from haute couture to nightwear, but their beauty and significance are unmatched. For the next year, Victoria and Albert will host an exhibit showcasing Naomi Campbell’s career as told by her.
Walking into the exhibit, you are greeted by a neon sign that reads “Naomi in Fashion” and has moody lighting. It is almost reminiscent of the final moments before entering a catwalk. The dark walls, cramped quarters, and bright lights guide you to the start of the exhibit. There is no need for Naomi to include her surname as her influence on fashion and society is known to most, but the start of the exhibit highlights her humble beginnings. Her background as a dancer, growing up with a single mother, and unknown aspirations to be a model is unexpected for someone who poises herself with such elegance and inaccessibility. It is almost as if Naomi wishes to humanize herself to the exhibit-goers so they can follow her journey to fame with her.
Immediately, the exhibit presents Naomi’s first Vogue cover, an image of a 17-year-old Naomi smiling on a Long Island beach. This early moment in her career set the stage for her to disrupt the industry. Naomi shares the challenges she faced as a young woman of color thrust into the spotlight, yet the support of other industry disruptors propelled her to stardom.
Following the Vogue cover, the viewer is shown a mini Chanel tweed ensemble done by Karl Lagerfeld for SS94. Karl himself disrupted what was typical for the house of Chanel, cutting hemlines, introducing logomania, and showcasing parts of the body Chanel herself would never have approved of showing. In a way, Karl and Naomi are similar, both masters of their craft, but they face pushback from those with more traditional ideas. Naomi’s juxtaposition of her accounts of racism and doubt with the mini Chanel ensemble uplifts her status as a supermodel and gives credit to the designers willing to shake the standard with her.
The next designer who had a close relationship with Naomi was Azzedine Alaia. In his section,
there are multiple looks that are iconic to Naomi. However, a prevailing theme is the appreciation of Naomi’s body. Similarly to Karl’s Chanel, Alaia shows off Naomi’s features and embraces who she is, and as a result, Naomi emphasizes their close relationship. Alaia also changed the fashion industry as he put women into form-fitting silhouettes, something that was not accepted by the mainstream yet.
Choosing to work with Naomi and creating increasingly sexy looks for her shows Alaia's appreciation for her natural form. As exhibited by a leopard print ensemble from AW91, Naomi poses seductively and shows off her long legs, captivating the viewer and painting the story that she and Alaia created of Naomi, the supermodel. Karl and Alaia’s work proved that industry disruption always worked in Naomi’s favor.
To conclude the bottom portion of the exhibit and her timeline, Naomi includes one of her most iconic moments and what cemented her stardom- her Dolce and Gabbana couture dress. Designed for AW07, the dress features thousands of embellishments and a metal corset belt, which adds to the opulence of the look. What makes this significant is the occasion she wore it to which was her final day of community service. The media frenzy surrounding Naomi during this time proved how her strategy of disruption worked in her favor. Even when she was in a scandal, people couldn’t help but look.
Naomi honed in on the fascination she and the designers she had worked with created. By wearing the Dolce dress, she channeled her previous looks and the barriers they had broken. There was no mini skirt or bodysuit featured here, but its impact was just the same. Naomi Campbell had created a name for herself by shocking viewers, which made her all the more alluring and a fashion oligarch.
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