We round up the reviews for the museum’s exhibition celebrating the career of model Naomi Campbell.
The Independent: **** “You leave Naomi: In Fashion in awe at Campbell’s face, her limbs, her ability to transform herself so seamlessly on camera. But Campbell herself doesn’t necessarily come more into focus. Instead, she is, as she always has been, an image. It’s one that takes your breath away, but an image all the same.”
iNews: ** “Despite its no-expense-spared production quality, it may be that even the museum’s director Tristram Hunt has had cause to regret the project, since in his foreword to the catalogue he pitches the show as “the first UK exhibition to focus attention on the myriad contributions of the fashion model”. Unfortunately, this more general assessment of the role played by models is, as he well knows, not at all what we have here; instead, Hunt articulates the bones of what would have been a far superior exhibition.”
Vogue.co.uk: “There’s also a striking sense of humour to the show, which draws attention not only to Campbell’s brushes with the law, but also her renowned obsession with hygiene. In a vitrine that recreates one of her dressing rooms – complete with colourful paintings drawn by Campbell’s two children and a pair of sparkling Christian Louboutin stilettos – a packet of Dettol wipes nods to her obsession with cleanliness. Upstairs, alongside, monogrammed leather pieces by Louis Vuitton, a mannequin wears a HazMat suit paired with a tan Burberry poncho.”
The Guardian: “Naomi: In Fashion is the first major museum exhibition devoted to a model. Eyebrows have been raised about the canonisation of a fashion model in the ranks of museum-worthy artists. But it works, because instead of attempting to make too earnest a case, the exhibition is fun and quirky and does not take itself too seriously.”
The Telegraph: *** “The V&A’s slick exhibition about her four-decade career is the first of its kind – but we get no nearer to the real Naomi Campbell.”
Evening Standard: **** “By any measure, that the V&A has chosen to profile Naomi Campbell with a dedicated exhibition is impressive. The only cultural figures it has previously documented with their own shows are David Bowie and Kylie. After walking through the stages featuring over 100 looks worn by the 54 year old supermodel over the course of a 40 year career, her significance is unassailable. Yes, this is about Campbell, but it also serves as a comprehensive visual history of the fashion industry as a whole over the past four decades – the duration of which she has been a central conduit.”
NAOMI in Fashion continues to be on display at the V&A until the 3rd March 2025 .