Naomi Campbell’s platform shoes and her Icon dress to be shown at V&A
The first V&A exhibition focused on a leading model’s career in fashion will show around 100 looks from Campbell’s four decades in the industry.
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A sneak peak at the exhibition of Naomi Campbell’s looks has teased the dresses and shoes that will be on display later this year.
The British businesswoman and supermodel was at the Dorchester hotel in Park Lane, London on Wednesday to launch the show, titled Naomi.
The first Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) exhibition focused on a leading model’s career in fashion, will show around 100 looks from Campbell’s four decades in the industry.
The preview showed off her Alexander McQueen silk tulle dress, with intricate silver detailing placed on top of see-through netting and embroidered with 3D petal climbing roses, which she wore on the red carpet ahead of picking up the Icon prize at the 2019 Fashion Awards in London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The 53-year-old was honoured because of her contribution to the industry as well as her philanthropic work with charities and efforts for a more diverse and equal future, especially in Africa.
Before original creative director British designer McQueen died aged 40 in 2010, she walked the runway for his shows, including the 2004 Black event revisiting his greatest hits.
Campbell recently closed Sarah Burton’s last Paris Fashion Week at the helm of the fashion house.
Continuing the theme of showcasing her biggest moment, Campbell also posed on Wednesday alongside a stripped dress from Nigerian designer Kenneth Ize, who she has long championed.
The red, white and green ensemble was worn during Paris Fashion Week in 2020 – when the model closed the designer’s show and many African fashionistas began storming the French event.
The V&A exhibition will also showcase older pieces including high-platform purple shoes from Dame Vivienne Westwood.
These type of eight-inch heels caused Campbell to take a tumble during Dame Vivienne’s Paris Fashion Week show in 1993 in a memorable moment.
Another piece turning back time is a black and burnt orange dress, similar to a Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaia’s 1992 silhouette and pattern.
Rounding out the pieces on display is a low-cut light grey pantsuit, which appears to be the same one worn for the Boss campaign in 2023 and also features a heavy coat in the ensemble.
A fashion photography installation, curated by Campbell’s good friend and outgoing British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, will also feature “prominently” at the exhibition, the V&A previously said.
She appeared in Enninful’s final cover for the magazine, in February, along with chat show host Oprah Winfrey and supermodel Kate Moss as his last shoot brought together 40 stars.
Photographers Nick Knight, Steven Meisel and Tim Walker will form part of the V&A installation along with designs from Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Gianni and Donatella Versace.
Campbell’s modelling career took off aged 15 and she is regarded as one of world’s most famous models.
In 1988, she became the first black model to appear on the cover of French Vogue.
Naomi will run from June 2024 to April 2025.
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