Naomi Campbell wants to be a “changemaker” even if it means embracing “fast fashion.”
The 53-year-old fashion icon is teaming up with PrettyLittleThing and two emerging designers in a bid to bring about change in the industry.
“I’m looking at myself as a changemaker. As a changemaker, I thought this was something that was a good thing to do. I know that it’s fast fashion, and that people have their criticism. I’m not denying them. But as a changemaker, I felt this was a great way to effect change in the industry in getting my emerging designers recognized and seeing them on a global platform,” she told Women’s Wear Daily.
The supermodel is keen to see the industry open up “all boarders” and not “discriminate,” by allowing everyone to “to come in and shower in whatever country.”
“If their dream is to show, then let them show. Giving them the support that they need is the most important thing, whether that is how they manufacture or produce. That’s why I started Emerge [in 2021],” she added.
She is preparing for the unveiling of the PrettyLittleThing by Naomi Campbell on Sept. 5 in Manhattan, which will see her joined by designers Victor Anate and Edvin Thompson. She was drawn to them through their respective heritage – Nigerian and Jamaican – and also by the possibility of discovering how “a whole different audience” looks at fashion.
“I’m 53. It’s [a matter of] getting to know a whole different audience that I didn’t know before or I thought I didn’t know, or I thought they didn’t know me,” Campbell added.
However, she wasn’t going be drawn on assessing the “diversity” of the current fashion landscape.
“’I’m so over the word. This is my point – I feel like so many people just use that word to tick a box, to make sure that they’re not called out or anything like that. I don’t use that word. For me, it’s not about using the word or ticking a box — it’s about doing the action, the pure action. It’s giving a part of your platform and sharing it with someone, who is talented,” Cammpell concluded.
