‘She wasn’t adopted — she’s my child’: Naomi Campbell on motherhood

Sana Noor Haq, CNN

Naomi Campbell has been revealed as the cover star for the latest edition of British Vogue — and she’s joined by a special guest.

The supermodel has been photographed with her 9-month-old daughter for the March issue of the fashion magazine.

In her interview, she reflects on motherhood, diversity in the fashion industry and her whirlwind career.

While Campbell has not yet revealed the circumstances around her daughter’s birth, she told the magazine: “She wasn’t adopted — she’s my child.”

British Vogue and Campbell published a slight variation of the quote in an Instagram caption promoting the story, adding the word “biological” ahead of child.

“I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her. But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” Campbell said.

The 51-year-old announced the arrival of her first child in a surprise post on social media in May last year.

“A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother,” she wrote on her Instagram account at the time.

Campbell was scouted at the age of 15, according to her official website. She has previously spoken about the racism she faced as a Black model — especially in the early years of her career.

“There were lots of times when I would walk in the fashion shows, but I was never picked for the ad campaigns and it would hurt — it really hurt. I would have to suck it up and keep moving,” she told British Vogue.

“Of course, it would have been great to have had that support around me back then, but I’m proud to see it happen now, I’m proud to see the diversity now.”

Since the 1980s and 1990s, a younger generation of Black models has taken the fashion industry by storm, including Adut Akech, Leomie Anderson and Duckie Thot.

Campbell also reminisced on the success she shared with 1990s icons Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington.

“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,” she said.

“We all loved it and we kept each other’s energy up. 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.”

After Edward Enninful stepped in as British Vogue’s first male and non-White editor in 2017, the magazine has released a number of striking covers.

Musician Billie Eilish graced the cover in May 2021 to discuss body image and exploitation. The magazine also spotlighted key workers on three versions of the cover in June 2020. And in May 2020, actress Judi Dench became the magazine’s oldest cover star — she was 85 at the time.

Other recent cover stars that have appeared on global editions of Vogue include “Squid Game” actress Hoyeon Jung, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and first lady Jill Biden.

The March issue of British Vogue is scheduled for release across print and digital formats on February 22.

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