In Appreciation of Naomi Campbell

By Ben Widdicombe Posted May 31st 2010 02:00PM

Naomi Campbell has captivated us for more than 20 years. Since starting out as a teenager, she has morphed from model to celebrity to one-woman soap opera.

But what usually gets lost in the latest round of reporting on phone-throwing or (alleged) blood diamonds is that she can legitimately lay claim to being the greatest supermodel in the world. Here's why.

When Campbell appeared in the late 1980s, she immediately epitomized a slew of evolving and emerging trends. Her body was muscular in a way that spoke to the newly-aerobicized era, but also incredibly slender in the way that we now think of as normal for models. She excelled at both print campaigns and walking the runway at live fashion shows at a time when most models tended to specialize in either one or the other.

She also embodied the dawning Global Age -- here was a black woman with an English accent who was a quarter Asian (on the side of her reputed Jamaican-Chinese father, whose identity has never been revealed). But most importantly for her success: Everything looked great on her. She instinctively realized that a model's job was to give personality to clothes, and garments that would have draped like sack-cloth on other mannequins became interesting and alive when interpreted by the young woman from Streatham, England.

Other models might have had individual traits that were superior -- Naomi never had Linda Evangelista's arsenal of different looks, for example -- but none had Campbell's total package.

Of the five women in Herb Ritts's iconic 1989 supermodel portrait, 'Stephanie [Seymour], Cindy [Crawford], Christy [Turlington], Tatjana [Patitz] & Naomi. Hollywood,1989,' only Crawford achieved a level of celebrity to rival Naomi's.

But Cindy had only a fraction of the high-fashion career and never shone on the catwalk -- her natural territory is swimsuits and Pepsi Cola and a home-ware range at Raymour & Flanigan.

In the '90s, at the height of supermodel-mania, the power players were Turlington, Campbell, Crawford and Evangelista, plus Helena Christensen, Claudia Schiffer and Kate Moss. Of them all, only Moss can rival Campbell's enduring appeal as a working high-fashion model. But again, Moss's great strength as a print star was never combined with particular skill on the catwalk. One fashion insider sniped to PopEater, "It was a miracle if she could make it to the end of the runway."

Typically, when models pass their prime, it is considered a success if they move from the fashion pages to the social pages -- usually with a well-heeled husband on their arm. Campbell certainly had the men (European Formula One mogul Flavio Briatore; Spanish Flamenco-dancer toy-boy Joaquín Cortés), but when her prime modeling days were over, she bypassed the social section for the front page.

It is true that Campbell is mainly in the media these days because of her antics. But it is disheartening when the reporters assigned to cover her don't understand why she's such a big deal, or what she achieved to make her a celebrity in the first place.

Because for many fashion-followers, she is the greatest supermodel ever.

Tags: naomi campbell

Comments

(23)

Monday 31 May

By Mandi

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Im just happy to read an article about models that doesnt mention Tyra Banks. Very nice! :)

By myo

Tyra is not of the Naomi era (late 1980's) which is why she is not mentioned in this article. She is grouped with models like Heidi Klum and Nikki Taylor (late 1990's).

By vinny

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F*&K Her,shes just a model!Not a Doctor or Teacher etc.....

By omraee entertainment LLC.

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so why would a family have a daughter that says her lesbo girlfriend is her sister and deny naomi the right to share
a name?

ask opera.

By J

So we should remember that her real achievements lie in her ability to get her picture taken? Models aren't made, they're born. She's beautiful enough to make a living off of it, and could hardly have been a bigger jerk about it while doing so.

By Tonya A

The greatest supermodel? Memorable, yes, but hardly the greatest. She ruled the catwalk but unfortunately, was one-dimensional in print.

Tuesday 01 June

By Susan

Beauty is only skin deep. Naomi Campbell is ugly to the bone, inside...

By Judy

She was a good model and very pretty on the surface, but what about her and the Blood Diamonds? How pretty is that?

By Sarita

Naomi Campbell is a fantastic model, she is got the look, the body, the beauty and she knows her job very well, what she does not have is the personality to be a true Diva, she has not tolerance for others and has a bad temper, a real Diva she is not.

By Terri

Are you kidding? This is an article? I saw the headline and thought "OMG! Did Naomi Campbell die or something??" No, it is just a pointless, vapid bit of fluff praising a primadonna model who is more known for beating people over the head with her sense of entitlement than for the top modeling years that are now in her rear-view mirror. Some legacy.... :::ducking:::

By Dean

Naomi is one hell of a nut case, a real idiot.

Naomi is a nut case.

By joettecb

It doesnt matter how good clothes look on her when she is rude, hateful, arrogant and full of a sense of entitlement. she doesnt deserve the fame and money.

By koolkitti

DUH !!!! PEOPLE POPEATER IS FLUFF!OUTSIDE OF DEATH ANNOUNCEMENTS,THE ARTICLES ARE NOTHING BUT MEANINGLESS PR

JAMES FRANCO ARTICLE ? FLUFF!
COLIN EGGLEFIELD ARTICLE ? FLUFF!!
KEITH OLBERMANN ARTICLE? FLUFF !!!
CELINES PREGNANCY ? BECAUSE RENE SQUIRTING OUT ANYTHING BUT DUST SHOULD BE IN THE ENQUIRER.

By tuffpaw

ugh, must be a slow news day.

By WHITEROSE

This PIG is a hateful, mentally ill, VIOLENT narcissist.

This idiot wears clothes and gets paid for it- all the while viciously, physically attacking the poor people that help make her famous.

Her and this fawning idiot that wrote this piece of tripe are beneath contempt.

By Kelly

Oh Please. Why she isn't sitting in a jail cell or a mental ward right now is beyond me. Such an undeserving soul for all the fame and fortune she has. Give me/us a break.

By Dee

Whiterose i agree

By Wilson

Naomi who?

By J.Johnson

Naomi's success is that she hasn't taken that "temper" of hers out on the wrong person, yet! I know plenty of people who would give it back to her in folds, if she hit them or a member of her family.

I think the woman is unbalanced! Our society are being to take it too easy on people who think they can just go batcrap on people! And beauty or celebrity should not immune you.

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