Naomi Campbell

By Ines Mendoza

Upon looking over the vast array of models we have researched, praised and patronised over the years in our Web Wombat Models Archive, I noticed there was was one model that had been amazingly over-looked (shame on you Sara!).

We have girls from Brazil, guys from France and who could forget the Hilton sisters... But what was missing...? A model? Not just any model but in fact, a super model. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you - finally, Naomi Campbell.

Naomi Campbell seems almost like a prehistoric creature from the blue lagoon in the world of the fashion industry. Born on May 22nd, 1970 - Naomi has been on the fashion radar for what seems like centuries. This is no mean feat for a business which prides itself on the admiration of youthful image, and the fickle nature of age. And why do the cells that make up our bodies deteriorate anyway? I'm getting away from the point here, but I think it's fascinating that we have built-in systems to ensure our own demise. If we reversed this cell decay, could we live forever?

Anwway, Naomi has done everything there is to do, from catwalks to Playboy - to airline brawls to being an ambassador for the poor, and although she has faced numerous personal ups and downs, she still remains one of the world's top models.

Raised in Streatham, South London, of mostly Afro-Jamaican heritage (though her father is also partially of Jamaican-Chinese descent) Campbell attended the London Academy for Performing Arts, however it was on the streets of London's Covent Garden when she was just fifteen years old in which she was discovered, and Naomi soon had the entire fashion world clamouring to capture her stunning look. 

Campbell's first appearance to a wider public was in February 1978 when she was cast as a pupil to appear in a music video with Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley for his song "Is This Love?".

Naomi has worked for the greatest designers and photographers in the world including Patrick DeMarchelier, Steven Meisel, Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, Ellen von Unwerth, Mario Testino and Peter Lindbergh. She has fronted campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Versace, Jazz, Francois Nars, Dolce & Gabbana and Dsquared. However, her humble beginnings stem from her first cover shoot for British Elle, and Naomi was the first black model to appear on the covers of TIME magazine, and French and British Vogue.

But what many people may not know is that Campbell is also a successful singer. Her album "Baby Woman" sold over 1 million copies worldwide (although, that was mostly in Japan), and she also featured on Vanilla Ice's single "Cool as Ice" - from the box office flop film of the same name (1991). She had previously appeared in George Michael's music video, "Freedom '90", and Michael Jackson's sizzling video "In The Closet". There was also the series of nude lesbian-erotic photos with Madonna in the book Sex for those who tastes are a little left of mainstream, and in 1995, her collaboration with Toshinobu Kubota, "La La La La Love Song", became a monster hit in Japan, with the single selling in excess of 1.8  million copies.

But let's face it, there are certain aspects of Naomi's career which have made her more of a household name than any photo shoot ever could. That's right, the cover of the 1999 Playboy couldn't even distract people from the many personal misdemeanors of Ms. Campbell. 

Over the years there have been several reports in regards to her alleged quick temper, with several cases involving violence (often involving a thrown cell phone or a hissy fit on a plane), as well as verbal abuse. In 2000, she pleaded guilty in a Toronto court to a 1998 assault on Georgina Galanis, her then assistant. Campbell had assaulted Galanis with a telephone in a hotel room and threatened to throw her out of a moving car. Not the actions of a well-adjusted individual, but sometimes fame and fortune (and other things) can do that.

Then, in February 2001, pictures surfaced in British newspaper the Daily Mirror that showed Campbell leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in London. Mirror editor Piers Morgan said at the time "This is a very good day for lying drug-abusing prima donnas who want to have their cake with the media, and the right to then shamelessly guzzle it with their Crystal champagne". 

Campbell was most recently arrested on March 30 2006 in New York City for allegedly assaulting her assistant with, yet again, a cell phone. She was charged with second-degree assault, a felony that carries a minimum sentence of one year in prison. Perhaps she needs to stop hanging out with Russell Crowe...?

Misdemeanors aside, Naomi has done some good for the world as well. She received international attention for her fundraising efforts on various projects including the Nelson Mandela children's fund, Fidel Castro's Cuban Children's Fund and joined the Dalai Lama in fund raising efforts through UNESCO to build kindergartens for poor communities worldwide and she was the face of the first Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign in 1996.

More recently Naomi visited Nelson Mandela in South Africa with a close friend, Quincy Jones. The children's unit had a TV but no DVD player so she bought them one and a whole stack of kid's DVD's, perhaps including Cool As Ice. She is also spending some time in New York and Paris shooting the new Louis Vuitton ad campaign as well as hosting the 2006 Life Ball in Vienna (the largest European fundraising event for the AIDS cause) with an expected 40,000 people to attend.

Naomi continues to surprise adding new achievements to her illustrious career. As a successful entrepreneur, she launched her own cosmetics range and her own lifestyle, branding and events company, NC.Connect, in New York which boasts a prestigious client roster.

Most recently, Naomi has added yet another act of violent childishness to her "Book of Embarrassing Public Outbursts" - this time Campbell was arrested inside Heathrow's Terminal 5 on suspicion of assaulting a police officer after one of her bags had been lost. 

Campbell was subsequently banned from flying globally with British Airways by the airline.

She was charged with three counts of assaulting a constable, one count of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and one count of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour towards cabin crew.

She really has done it all in a career spanning well over 20 years, and all she needs to do is stay calm, keep the kids happy, and Naomi Campbell may still have a chance to go down in history as one of the greats.

Source: Unknown Photography: Unknown	Source: Unknown Photography: Unknown
Source: Unknown Photography: Unknown