Naomi Campbell Isn’t Even Close to Done: The Supermodel Looks Back on 30 Years in the Spotlight Inline
Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, Vogue, 19891/4Vogue, September 1989
“Okay, this is Anna Wintour’s first September issue, and I was very shocked that she asked me to be on it. I was the first black girl on the cover of September, which I didn’t know until The September Issue documentary came out. I had no idea.
“We shot this in the Hamptons, I think a Saturday afternoon or Saturday morning, like sunrise, with Patrick Demarchelier. He lived in East Hampton, we all stayed in the Hamptons, they put us up at the Palm hotel, and Mary Greenwell was the makeup, Grace Coddington was the editor.
“I’m very proud of this cover to this day. I got to understand much more about the September issue from the documentary, so it was insightful for me to see it. I understood how much Anna had to fight for me to be on this cover, because there were powers that be that didn’t want her to put me on the cover, and she had to fight to have a black girl on the cover. I’ll be eternally grateful to her and proud of this.”
Photo: Shot in New York, 1989, and published in Vogue UK, January 1990. Photograph by Peter Lindbergh. / Courtesy of TASCHEN2/4Naomi with Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford.
“This was on a Sunday afternoon, with Peter Lindbergh in Brooklyn. I believe I flew in that day. I think we all flew in because back in the day, New York shows were at the end of the season and not the beginning. We all were flying from Paris, and a lot of the shoots, just to get us in one city, they would do around that time because they knew we’d all be here for the shows. That was a Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn. Back in the day, we worked weekends. We didn’t care. We worked seven days a week and more than 9 to 5, too. We were only done once all the clothes had been all shot, that was that way, and there were no complaints. It was a lot of fun!
“We were wearing all Giorgio di Sant’Angelo, a great designer that, when I came here, was known for making these kind of stretch dresses that draped across the body, and these were bodies! When I met him, I got to do his show downtown. His studio was at Broadway and Houston, and he was a struggling designer when I met him, so we all used to do his show for free because we really believed in his artistry. Very good-looking man. Of course, he passed away. I can see his face now. I see him very clearly.
“This group of lovely ladies are still in my life, and we are very supportive of each other. They were never jealous of each other, but as many times as you’d say that, nobody ever believed you! I think now, after all these years, people realize the truth. When we do shoots together now, it’s like a big reunion.”
Photo: Published in Vogue, USA, June 1990. Photograph by Peter Lindbergh / Courtesy of TASCHEN3/4Published in Vogue, June 1990; photograph by Peter Lindbergh
“This was in L.A., and this again was set on a Sunday. I don’t know why I remember days of the week, but I do. It was over two days, it was with Grace Coddington, and we were in downtown L.A. where they have the railroad tracks. This whole area now has become very hip. We had all the Dalmatians. It was great. I worked so much with Peter [Lindbergh] in my career, and did so many great stories with him. I love stories where I was a character, more than looking just like myself. It made it more fun.”
“With Peter, it’s like you didn’t really pose. It was like you just get in, and he says, ‘Stay like that!’ Peter’s a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. It wasn’t really set up, it just happened to be that way.”
Photo: Shot for Interview, USA, January 1994. Photograph by Ellen von Unwerth / Courtesy of TASCHEN4/4Photographs by Ellen von Unwerth
“I think Fabien Baron was the art director, and I love this. I have this, actually, still, in my archives. I love this Gaultier collection. In fact, I looked at a picture of myself that someone sent me yesterday. I love everything about this show, the Indian show. I loved all the facial makeup, the rings in the nose, the ring attached to the ears, from the nose to the ear. It was a brilliant show. I taught Bridget [Hall] how to walk once, many years ago. She’s a great girl.”
