Revisit Naomi Campbell’s Most Iconic Moments on the Runway Through the Years
The industry didn’t know it at the time, but the birth of Naomi Campbell, exactly 50 years ago on Saturday, marked a milestone in fashion history. Born in South London, the Chinese-Jamaican supermodel was discovered when she was just 15, and her modeling career almost immediately took off—she appeared on the cover of British Elle shortly before her 16th birthday. And once she debuted her signature strut, which she learned from her mother, on the runway, the rest was history. The list of those who couldn’t get enough of Naomi’s walk reads like a who’s who of the late ’80s and ’90s fashion industry: from designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Azzedine Alaïa, Isaac Mizrahi, Yves Saint Laurent, and Gianni Versace to supers like Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington, Naomi’s fellow members in “the Trinity,” who were among her fiercest advocates in the often blatantly racist industry. Decades later, the super hasn’t slowed down. She still regularly puts in appearances on the runway, and will no doubt continue to into her fifties. In celebration of her 50th birthday, revisit some of her most iconic moments on the catwalk—including, of course, the legendary tumble she took during a Vivienne Westwood show in ’93—here.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Yves Saint Laurent fall/winter 1987 couture show in Paris, 1987. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway for Perry Ellis in 1989. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Thierry Mugler fall/winter 1989 show during Paris Fashion Week in 1989. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Thierry Mugler spring/summer 1992 show in 1991. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Fendi spring/summer 1992 show by Karl Lagerfeld in Milan, 1991. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Versace fall/winter 1991 show in Los Angeles, 1991. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Alaïa fall/winter 1991 show in Paris in 1991. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of Thierry Mugler’s spring/summer 1992 show in 1991. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Versace spring/summer 1992 show in 1991. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Valentino fall/winter 1992 show during Paris Fashion Week in 1992. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the Chanel spring/summer 1993 couture show—one of Karl Lagerfeld’s most controversial—during Paris Fashion Week in 1993. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell makes fashion history by falling on the runway of the Vivienne Westwood fall/winter 1993 show in 1993. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Chanel spring/summer 1994 show—the theme of which was another controversial choice by Karl Lagerfeld: “rap”—in 1993. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Guy Laroche spring/summer 1994 couture show during Paris Fashion Week in 1994. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Vivienne Westwood fall/winter 1994 show during Paris Fashion Week in 1994. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Prada spring/summer 1995 show during Milan Fashion Week in 1994. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Rifat Ozbek spring/summer 1995 show during Paris Fashion Week in 1994. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Chanel fall/winter 1995 couture show Haute during Paris Fashion Week in 1995. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Versace fall/winter 1996 show by Gianni Versace in 1996. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Givenchy fall/winter 1997 couture show during Paris Fashion Week in 1997. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Givenchy fall/winter 1997 couture show during Paris Fashion Week in 1997. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of one of the early Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows inside the Plaza Hotel in New York City, 1997. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Oscar de la Renta fall/winter 1999 show in New York City, 1999. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Versace fall/winter 1999 couture show during Paris Fashion Week in 1999. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Jean Paul Gaultier spring/summer 2002 couture show in 2001. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Esteban Cortázar spring/summer 2005 couture show during New York Fashion Week in 2004. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2008 show during Paris Fashion Week in 2007. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss reuniting on the runway of the Louis Vuitton fall/winter 2018 men’s show with Kim Jones, in honor of his final collection for the house, during Paris Fashion Week in 2018. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of her crush (and fellow ageless icon) Jennifer Lopez’s fall/winter 2005 show during New York Fashion Week in 2005. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Givenchy spring/summer 2016 men’s show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s in 2015. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell reuniting with fellow supermodels Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, and Helena Christensen to walk the runway of the Versace spring/summer 2018 show with Donatella Versace during Milan Fashion Week in 2017. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Saint Laurent spring 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week in 2019.
Naomi Campbell walks the runway of the Fashion For Relief show at the British Museum in London, 2019.
Naomi Campbell walks Michael Kors’s 40th-anniversary show in New York City, 2021.
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