LONDON — It’s a tradition and somewhat protocol for exhibition press briefings to be held at the museum they’re being shown at, but not for Naomi Campbell.
The British supermodel summoned the Victoria and Albert Museum, where her exhibition “Naomi” will run from June 22 to April 6, 2025, to the Dorchester hotel along with Alexander McQueen’s former creative director Sarah Burton, Steve McQueen and Edward Enninful.
In a separate room, five items from the upcoming showcase hinted at what viewers will get a taste of in the exhibition — items all worn by Campbell herself, either in a professional or personal capacity, including a Kenneth Ize striped dress from fall 2020 from when she walked in the show; a beautifully embellished gown that she wore to the Fashion Awards in 2019; an Azzedine Alaïa dress; the famous Vivienne Westwood 9-inch platforms that she was wearing when she fell during the brand’s fall 1993 show, “Anglomania,” and a gray two-piece suit with a coat in a lighter shade of gray from Boss, which is sponsoring the show.
Naomi Campbell at the V&A.
Marco Bahler
“[A gray suit] is timeless. The one I’m wearing is Alexander McQueen from 2000 and I think you can wear them anytime, they don’t date,” Campbell told WWD.
Curating the exhibition has been a fun exercise for the model to trace back her four-decade career and to rediscover items that she’s left behind in countries such as Spain, Russia and America.
Enninful has formed an installation for the showcase that will feature imagery from Nick Knight, Steven Meisel and Tim Walker.
The exhibition will touch upon Campbell’s initiatives throughout her career, including meeting Nelson Mandela; joining the Black Girls Coalition in 1989; campaigning for The Diversity Coalition with Iman and Bethann Hardison; her support for Arise Fashion Week, and spotlighting Emerge, the global initiative that she started in 2022.
Naomi Campbell’s 20th birthday party.
Eric Weiss/WWD
“There were a few surprises, actually, that I didn’t know that I had because there was a point in the early ‘80s where I had given some of my clothes away and then someone said, ‘don’t do that.’ But there are a few items that I forgot I even had,” said the model.
The exhibition features a variety of items from Campbell’s life, from model cards and measurement sheets to designer pieces from Gianni and Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent and more.