Naomi Campbell piles into Vogue

'Black models sidelined', claims battling Streatham clotheshorse

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 21st August 2007 10:27 GMT

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WSA Battling Streatham clotheshorse Naomi Campell has fired a broadside against "glossy magazines" which she claims have "sidelined" black models in favour of their fair-skinned counterparts.

According to the Times, Campbell last weekend took time from a beach holiday in Kenya to finger Vogue as a prime example, decrying: "Black models are being sidelined by the major modelling agencies. It is a pity that people don't appreciate black beauty."

"Even myself, I get a raw deal from my own country in England. For example, I hardly come on the front pages of the London Vogue magazine. Only white models, some of whom are not as prominent as I am, are put on splash pages. I don't want to quit modelling until I find that black models get equal prominence and recognition by the world media and information instruments."

Indeed, the 37-year-old supermodel last graced the cover of Vogue back in 2002, and she's accordingly "begun contacting scouts [in Kenya] to help to set up an agency that would find and train women to become models".

Campbell explained: "I believe there are pretty girls from your lovely country who can grace the international catwalk and the front pages of fashion magazines with proper strategies."

Saarf London's finest has attracted the support of Lyndsey McIntyre, who runs Surazuri modelling agency. She said: "You can look through all the big magazines and see hundreds of models and not see a single black one. So anything which increases the pool of African talent is a good thing, but it will be a while before we see a big change in the industry." ®

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