Passionate, opinionated and simply stunning, Naomi Campbell for us, is the original super model. Showing no signs of slowing down in what can only be described as an incredibly prolific super model career, it’s been announced that Naomi Campbell will receive the Fashion Icon Award at The Fashion Awards 2019, on Monday 2 December 2019.

The British Fashion Council will present Ms Campbell with the award, at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in recognition of her incredible contribution to the fashion industry, her world-renowned career as a supermodel, as well as her philanthropist work with charities and incredible efforts for a more diverse and equal future, especially in Africa.

The Fashion Icon Award is a Special Recognition Award that celebrates outstanding contributions of recipients in the fashion industry and few are as deserving as Campbell in this sphere.

Naomi Campbell Fashion Icon Award
Caroline Rush, BFC Chief Executive and Naomi Campbell
Image: (Darren Gerrish, British Fashion Council

Pioneering firsts

The Queen of the catwalk was discovered by an agent after school in Covent Garden and quickly embarked on a career that saw her establishing many firsts. She was the first black model to cover French Vogue in 1988, the first black model to be on the cover of American Vogue’s September issue in 1989, the first black model to appear on the cover of TIME magazine, Russian Vogue as well as the first British black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue. She has since graced the covers of over 500 magazines.

More than 30 years in fashion later, Campbell remains in high demand among fashion’s most distinguished brands, however, in recent years, we have seen a more philanthropic side to her.

Charity begins at home

Campbell began charity work with Nelson Mandela in 1993, and in 1997 he named her “Honorary Granddaughter” for her endless activism. In 2018, she had the honour of presenting a tribute to the independence leader, who would have turned 100, at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival in NYC. In 2013, Naomi Campbell launched the Campaign “Diversity Coalition” with the aim to address racism in the fashion industry.

Her passion for female empowerment and Africa has seen her headline the 2019 Forbes Woman Africa’s Leading Women Summit and her ongoing mission to elevate and connect African designers with the global fashion community has seen her co-produce this year’s Arise Fashion Week in Lagos, Nigeria.

In 2005, Campbell founded Fashion for Relief, a charity merging fashion and philanthropy. Fashion for Relief was one of the first fundraisers with an aim to help people affected by the disastrous floods that hit the UK in the summer of 2007. Since that day, Fashion for Relief has spread its wings to embrace global causes, raising millions in aide of disaster relief such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and child refugee crises, to name only a few. Fashion for Relief has been staged all around the world, and this year will return to its roots, with a catwalk during London Fashion Week September 2019.

Following the announcement that she would be receiving the award, Campbell said: “This is an emotional award to me. This is from my peers in the industry and people that I’ve grown up with since I was 16 years old.”

An award well deserved!

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