‘YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT AND LOVE YOURSELF FIRST'

SUPERMODEL TRAILBLAZER AND ACTIVIST NAOMI CAMPBELL HAS A NEW SENSE OF EASE AT 51

- LISA MARKS

The fashion world simply wouldn’t be the same without Naomi Campbell. The south London-born supermodel has been walking the catwalk for an amazing 35 years and her achievements are almost too numerous to list.

As a woman of colour, Naomi – 51 on 22 May – is a fashion trailblazer and role model to the generation that is following in her footsteps. She’s been the face of hundreds of magazine covers, dozens of global advertising campaigns and had her own perfume line, as well as being an actress and charity ambassador.

It feels like Naomi has been in the public eye forever. Her first appearance on film came when she was just seven, when she featured in the music video for Bob Marley’s song Is This Love. At 10, she was accepted into the Italia Conti Academy Of Theatre Arts to study dance and by 15 she was working as a model. She landed her first magazine cover when she was just 16.

Naomi faced racial discrimination at the start of her career but went on to receive high-profile backing from designers Azzedine Alaïa, Yves Saint Laurent and Donatella Versace.