Supermodel Naomi Campbell covers the November 16, 2019 issue of The Fashion for The Guardian, styled by Jenke Ahmed Tailly in Nina Ricci, Ports 1961, Sacai, and Thom Browne NY. Campbell Eddy captures Noami weeks before Monday night’s British Fashion Awards 2019, where the superstar became tearful receiving her honor as the first woman of color to receive the prestigious Fashion Icon prize.

Campbell was interviewed by Nosheen Iqbal for The Guardian. Prepared to meet the full force of Naomi’s “legendary froideur”, Iqbal is disarmed at The Dorchester. Naomi dismisses her publicist, and opens dialogue with compliments to the writer:

“I wanted to meet you in person. I’ve watched and read what you’ve done in the past. I like that you’re very honest and seem transparent and straightforward. . . . I like what you wrote when you defended me, without me having to speak.”

Iqbal responds, underscoring the reality of fashion industry racism that has infuriated many of us for years. Let me digress.

In my own case, It is a fact that years ago I threatened to quit my job as Fashion Director and Director of Product Development on the spot, when senior management exhibited cold feet on proceeding with Naomi’s gorgeous solo images in our first flight of holiday windows — in every Victoria’s Secret store across America. I understand cold feet well, but institutionalized racism cannot stand.

In our case, VS only wishes for the revenue increases under the tenure of our all-women’s team (save our CFO and SVP of stores) and the backing — not the second guessing — of Les Wexner, not yet totally hypnotized by CMO Ed Razek. In those days, Les was the best boss any executive — and any woman executive — could hope for.

Returning to Campbell’s interview, she’s referring to an earlier Iqbal column about the absence of women of color covers under former British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman. Iqbal refreshes our memories:

Campbell is referring to a column I wrote two years ago, in response to an interview with the former Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman. Speaking in the same week that her successor Edward Enninful published his first Vogue, Shulman denied that she had held any unconscious bias, despite the fact that in the course of more than 300 issues and 25 years as editor, only a dozen covers had featured a black person. Two were Beyoncé and Rihanna, suggesting that a black star would need to be one of the most famous women on the planet before they were under consideration. Campbell, one of the world’s top five models for more than three decades, featured on only five. In the interview, Shulman described Campbell as aggressive, before arguing that it was offensive to call her racist, “because actually my son’s grandfather was one of the civil rights leaders”. Campbell raises an eyebrow at the drama that interview unleashed. “You really get to see people’s colours,” she laughs. “Literally.”

Naomi pulls no punches in her vintage Campbell response:

As the TV writer and producer Lena Waithe (Master of None, Dear White People) put it: “People of colour are in a very interesting position right now. We’re more than just in vogue. We are the culture.” Campbell would agree. “I feel a difference on many levels now – but someone I know recently called it a ‘cult’,” she says, visibly irate. “It wasn’t that way when you had everything, was it? You wouldn’t say that when you were getting everything handed on a plate, and things were coming your way constantly.” She puts out another cigarette. “I’m the kind of person where, with my friends – and I take that word very seriously – I’m happy for what they get. So to hear this called a ‘cult’, that was like, ‘Wait a second: so you want me to feel bad now that things are turning the other way?’” She makes an incredulous face. “No. We just want balance, end of story. I won’t do an all-black show, for instance, because it would be hypocritical given what I’ve stood for, for so long.” Which is what? “Balanced inclusion.” Campbell says she was offered “tons of money” to do an exclusively black show recently, but turned it down. “I can see clearly when brands want diversity because they get it and think it’s the right thing to do – and the ones who just think it will look bad if they don’t.”

Continue on with this important Naomi Campbell-Nosheen Iqbal dialogue at The Guardian.