Naomi Campbell on Making it as a Black Model: 'It was an Uphill Struggle'
Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Naomi Campbell's boobs cover the latest issues of both Interview Russia and Interview Germany. We've already shown you the Mert & Marcus-lensed editorial, and now we have an excerpt from the story, for which Moss interviews Campbell about her early modeling days.
We learn that a seven-year-old Campbell once cried upon meeting Bob Marley because she thought his dreads were snakes and that fighting for equality in the modeling biz was, not surprisingly, a bit of an uphill battle.
Read on for the full excerpt.
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KATE: I read that you made your first public appearance in a Bob Marley video.
NAOMI: Yeah. I was 7, I think. He was such a handsome man. I remember I started crying when I saw his dreadlocks because I thought they were worms. But he was really, really gentle.
...
KATE (on ethnic prejudice in the modeling world): When I first got to New York, I was like: "What are they talking about?". I couldn't tell, you know. It was really weird and also I think growing up in South London, it's so mixed race.
NAOMI: Exactly, we just know our area and how we were raised, so it was a big eye opener to me.
KATE: Did it feel like a battle you were fighting? And are you still fighting for equality in fashion?
NAOMI: It felt… I can't say that the word battle is the right word but it definitely felt like it was an uphill struggle for something. I felt like I had to do what I had to do for my race and to keep awareness out there.
