Emily Maddick, editor-at-large (celebrity)
Ever wondered what it’s like to be on the road with Naomi Campbell? Grazia’s Emily Maddick joined her in Nigeria last week to mark Arise Fashion Week...
‘What a whirlwind trip to Nigeria with Naomi Campbell! While she’s everything you’d expect (and more), I hope my report shows her in a new light – her activism for Africa can’t be knocked.’
NAOMI CAMPBELL IS ON a mission. And when Naomi Campbell puts her mind to something, people pay attention; cities come to a standstill, fashion houses launch initiatives and international governments pledge millions.
I travelled to Lagos, Nigeria, to spend 24 hours with the iconic supermodel to mark Arise Fashion Week with Naomi Campbell – a three-day festival that she hopes will further her current, passionate cause: to put Africa on the global fashion map. ‘This is a continent that has been untapped and ignored,’ she tells me. ‘There is so much emerging talent here that has struggled for so many years, it needs to be spoken about!’
Naomi tells me that her campaign to change the narrative around Africa came directly from her late honorary grandfather, Nelson Mandela. ‘I feel that he was trying to tell me to do this, but I really didn’t understand it when I was younger,’ she says. ‘I didn’t have the confidence. When he passed away, I felt a little lost, but his words always stayed with me. I remember all the things he would say to me so this now feels like a natural progression. Fashion is where I come from, so I started with my industry.’
Last month, it was announced that Naomi was partnering with Gucci to launch the Global Change Maker initiative, creating fashion fellowships at universities in Lagos, Ghana and Cape Town. And during a panel talk at Arise Fashion Week, Nigeria’s