Photo: Instagram/naomi
Naomi Campbell has always been a voice when it comes to the fashion industry. She’s always at the frontline speaking about how to close the diversity gap and make the fashion industry more inclusive. And it’s no doubt all the black models of today are looking up to the 50-year-old supermodel.
However, as a change-maker who’s always seeking to get a better representation of her people, she believes that launching the African edition of Vogue Magazine will help fix the diversity problem in Africa. Of course, as a continent that contributes to the global fashion industry, Africa has its fair share of diversity challenges, and even though the topic continues to generate much discussion there’s comparatively little action.
While collective efforts are being put in place to address this issue at least by pushing African fashion brands to the forefront, thanks to the prestigious fashion magazines and media platforms in the continent, Naomi is still a firm believer that only Vogue can put Africa on the global platform.
In her interview with Reuters in 2018, the British supermodel told the media outfit that there should be Vogue in Africa with her reasons directed to lack of diversity. “There should be a Vogue Africa,” she told Reuters. “We just had Vogue Arabia — it is the next progression. It has to be. Africa has never had the opportunity to be out there and their fabrics and their materials and their designs be accepted on the global platform … it shouldn’t be that way,” said the model.
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#fbf spoke about this then…let’s make it a reality…VOGUE AFRICA #NAOMIAFRICA #LinkInBio
Fast-forward to 2020, Campbell’s proposition has not changed and five days ago, she shared a flashback of her 2018 interview on Instagram with the caption: “#fbf spoke about this then…let’s make it a reality…VOGUE AFRICA #NAOMIAFRICA #LinkInBio.”
In response to her request, one of Nigeria’s top fashion magazines, Schick, has penned down an open letter to the runway darling, asking her not to downplay African publications in her advocacy for change. Schick Magazine highlighted the major publications in Africa which are the driving force of African fashion in the continent. This includes South Africa’s True Love Magazine, Nigeria’s Genevieve Magazine, Kenyan Nomad, TW Magazine in Nigeria as well as Ghana’s Glitz Africa and many more. Read the open letter below:
