Almost a year after announcing she'd become a mother, one of the world's most famous supermodels Naomi Campbell has debuted her daughter in the most supermodel-like way possible — on the cover of British Vogue.
Campbell appears on the magazine's March cover cradling her nine-month-old daughter whose name she has decided to keep private. Shot by acclaimed photographer Steven Meisel, Campbell's photoshoot is accompanied by an extensive interview in which she discusses everything from motherhood to her planned autobiography and an upcoming documentary, in which she'll reunite with fellow supermodels Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington as they relive their reign during the 1990s.
Here are the main takeaways from the interview:
Naomi Campbell on being a mother
Campbell announced the birth of her daughter on Instagram in May last year, a few days before her birthday, saying "a beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother".
Sharing an image of herself cradling the little girl’s feet, she said she was "honoured to have this gentle soul in my life, there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love".
In the Vogue interview, Campbell says her daughter travels everywhere with her, calling her "a trooper".
"I’m lucky my little one loves to travel like me — no whimpering taking off or landing,” she says. “She’s a good girl; she sleeps very well, she hardly ever cries and I’m told she’s very alert for her age. She’s just started waving, which is fun. She laughs a lot. She’s almost talking. I think she might walk before she crawls. And she’s got six teeth already.”
While exact details around her daughter's arrival are unknown, Campbell did not elaborate, only saying: “She wasn’t adopted — she’s my child.”
The rest are to be revealed in her upcoming book, she says.
“I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her,” she tells the magazine. “But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
“I always knew that one day I would be a mother, but it’s the biggest joy I could ever imagine. I’m lucky to have her and I know that.”
She also says she's reliving her childhood through her daughter.
“I’m like a kid again. I’m reliving nursery rhymes, playing and discovering how many great new toys there are out there in the world! And dolls! Things I couldn’t even dream of," she says.
Naomi Campbell on still being active on the catwalk
Campbell, who turned 51 in May, is still one of the busiest models and was recently seen on catwalks in Paris, Milan and London, walking the ramp for brands such as Versace, Alexander McQueen, Balmain and Lanvin.
In December last year, she was in the UAE for Arise Fashion Week at Armani Hotel Dubai, which showcased the best of Nigerian fashion and music.
"I still enjoy it but it’s nerve-racking! Because I’m 51 years old walking with girls who are 18!” she says. “It’s great to be with these young ’uns at my age, but I have to say, at one of the shows I was like, ‘Come on, girls! Pick up your feet! Why are you walking so slow?’ I definitely feel like my time was more joyful. We smiled. We got to show off our personalities.
"It was an incredible time. But we worked hard. And no matter how many outfit changes, how many shows, we never said we were tired. We all loved it and we kept each other’s energy up," she recalls. "We did eight shows a day and then we would go and celebrate with the designers in the evening. I wonder sometimes if models now could have kept up with us.”
Naomi Campbell on 'The Supermodels' documentary
Campbell will soon reunite with Evangelista, Crawford and Turlington for the Apple TV+ docuseries directed by Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple. The series will revisit their 1990s reign with all four women also serving as executive producers alongside Oscar-winning director Ron Howard.
"It’s about our life and times together: our friendship, careers, our womanhood, our motherhood," Campbell says. “As models, we don’t have any rights to our image, so it feels good to be partners on our legacy — and in our own words.”
She also reveals that she's still great friends with all the models and that Crawford was the first to meet her daughter when she was just a few days old.
"We have a group chat," she says.
Scroll through the gallery below for pictures from the closing night of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia:
