Naomi nifty at 50
FEISTY Naomi Campbell was so looking forward to letting her hair down in defiance of hitting the big 5-0 this week.
Instead, it’s in lockdown that she’ll be celebrating her milestone birthday on Friday. But the supermodel who’s as famous for her temper tantrums and fights as she is for her looks is keeping her cool cooped up in her New York home.
And she’s in a reflective mood in the midst of a pandemic that has taken more than 22,000 lives in the Big Apple.
“Frankly, if I am here on May 22, in isolation, I’m blessed.
“I’m not afraid of 50. I’m going to be spending my 50th here. I’m fine with it,” she said on her recent Youtube live series No Filter with Naomi.
And when the crisis is over, it’ll be back to work for a model who’s carved out a phenomenal 30-year career in the fashion industry.
“I don’t like the word ‘retire’,” Naomi said. “If I don’t wanna do it any more, I just won’t do it.”
Uncompromising as ever, Naomi will have plenty of time to look back over her tumultuous headline-hitting life as she sips champagne on her birthday.
Raised by her single dancer mum Valerie in Streatham, South London, she’ll remember her humble beginnings.
FANTASTIC
But the catwalk queen worth €50million has come a long way since scrubbing her leotard in the kitchen sink.
Naomi’s remarkable career began when she gained a place at the prestigious Italia Conti theatre school in central London at the age of 10.
Her former head, Cliff Vote, says she is an inspiration to black women – and is only feisty when she needs to be.
“I just think it’s fantastic this kid from Streatham has done as well as she has,” says Cliff, 71.
“She has been a traditional role model and icon. For young girls of colour, she has been incredibly inspirational.
“I think most of the people she’s been nasty to have thoroughly deserved it. People in her position are terribly used and there are times when you have to say, ‘Enough’. Very often she did.
“She broke the glass ceiling and did extremely well.”
Mr Vote, who worked at the school for 40 years, remembers Naomi for being an excellent dancer, popular with both teachers and her classmates.
But while at Conti she was scouted at 15 by Beth Boldt, the head of modelling agency Synchro.
“My mum wanted me to stay on and finish my exams,” Naomi wrote in her 2016 autobiography.
“But I wanted things my way, so a few weeks later I went to see Beth on my own.” Within three months, Naomi was doing her first big shoot in America for British Elle – and on her way to becoming one of the most-wanted models of her generation.
She worked for designers such as Gianni Versace, Azzedine Alaia and Isaac Mizrahi before landing the first of what would be many covers of British
Vogue in 1987. It was the first time a black model had been on the magazine’s front since 1966. But while Naomi’s career thrived, her fame triggered a cocaine addiction and a number of assault charges. She went to rehab in 1999 after a five-year addiction and later revealed she was first offered the drug at a
concert. “It made me feel invincible,” she recalled. “Like I could conquer the world. I was completely over-confident, but it’s all a misconception because when you wake up the next day it’s all gone and you feel awful. “She kicked the habit and fully accepts responsibility for her past. Naomi has previously said: “I owned everything I did. Did I feel shame about certain things? Absolutely. “I want to stay in the light. I don’t want to be in darkness. Mental health is something I care about a lot.” Early romances included a year-long relationship with U2 bassist Adam Clayton in 1993 before a four-year on-off engagement to Formula One chief Flavio Briatore in the early noughties.
In 2008, she began a five-year relationship with Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin which ended in 2013.
Last year she was rumoured to have had a brief fling with Cheryl Cole’s ex, Liam Payne – 23 years her junior. Recently, Naomi revealed she was “in love” – but not with anyone famous. She has never married, and says: “My heart is happy. I love a lot of people for different reasons.” Last year, she said of her upcoming half century: “I want to make sure I dance the night away, surrounded by people I love who have been with me through thick and thin. “I just want us to be in a beautiful place I have chosen.” Those plans may have changed – but even in lockdown Naomi will spend her birthday in a happy place and, as she said on her Youtube live series, “embracing the 50!” rhian.lubin@mirror.co.uk