Naomi Campbell Claims Fashion Industry Tried To Silence Her On Diversity And Inclusion Issues

Naomi Campbell has claimed the fashion industry “tried to shut her up” on the subject of diversity and inclusion.

The supermodel rose to fame in the late 1980s, and in that time has been at the forefront of a number of “firsts”, including becoming the first Black model to appear on the cover American Vogue’s September issue and any issue of French Vogue.

In an interview with BBC News, Naomi spoke about the future of the fashion industry, saying: “Everyone should be equal. Everyone is qualified.

“But now it’s really (about) holding our industry accountable.

“You say you want to be inclusive, you say you want to be diverse. So let’s do it. I don’t want to hear anymore saying, I want to see the action.

“Because I’m clear, and I know the ones that do the action and I know the ones that just say it because they don’t want to get in trouble. I’m clear about who they are.”

On her own experiences of speaking out about diversity and inclusion, Naomi added: “I’ve always spoken because it’s what my experience is and I am allowed to speak of my experience and what I’ve gone through, and how I feel, and how I’m going to deal with it, fair enough, if I’m going to accept it or not. And I didn’t accept it then and I won’t accept it now.

“And they always tried to shut me up, to be honest, in many different ways. [They said I was] difficult. Okay. But the people who knew me, knew that’s not who I was.”

Last year, Naomi became a mother when she welcomed a daughter, announcing the surprise news ​​in an Instagram post that showed her cradling her newborn baby’s feet.

Although she has maintained privacy when it comes to her daughter, whose name she has not shared publicly, she did appear on the cover of British Vogue with her baby girl earlier this year.

Speaking about how she’s finding motherhood, Naomi told the BBC: “She’s very tough. She falls down, she doesn’t cry. She doesn’t cry very much at all.

“[She sleeps for] 12 hours [a night]. We got her on 12 hours when she was like two months [old]. [I’ve got a] great baby whisperer. Not me. I have a great baby whisperer.”