The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2024 - Issue 36

biteexhibition “I never thought I was going to be a model” - Naomi Campbell. Saint Laurent threatened to withdraw his advertising from the magazine if she wasn’t cast. In 1989, Campbell became the first Black model to grace the cover of American Vogue’s Septem- ber issue, shot by French photographer Patrick Demarchelier. It was Anna Wintour’s first September cover as editor-in-chief and traditionally the publication’s biggest and most important. Whilst Campbell may be the most famous Black model, others came before her. Dorothea Towles was the first Black model to work with top French designers, including Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli, in the 1950s. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Sarah Lou Harris was a favoured model for Jet and Eb- ony magazines. Princess Elizabeth of Tooro, Uganda’s model- ling career kicked off in 1967 after she participated in a charity fashion show hosted by Princess Margaret. She later appeared in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. After gaining success on the covers of many mainstream US magazines, Naomi Sims established a successful range of beau- ty products for Black women. She was the first African-Amer- ican model to appear on the covers of Ladies’ Home Journal and Life. A muse to Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, Donayale Luna was the first Black model to grace the cover of British Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar in 1966, followed by Beverley Ann Johnson on American Vogue in 1974. Naomi: In Fashion is the first major exhibition devoted to a fashion model, celebrating Campbell’s legacy and nearly 40 years as a pioneering supermodel. It presents an extensive col- lection of around 100 iconic looks, curated in collaboration with the supermodel. The exhibition offers an intimate yet highly stylised glimpse into her influence on global fashion, with outfits from archived designer collections and items from the V&A’s holdings. Highlights include the supermodel’s groundbreaking appear- ances in designs like the 1991 Gianni Versace dress with prints of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean and the towering Vivienne