Back in 2010, Nick Knight and Naomi Campbell created an explosive video treatise on racism in the fashion world. The clip saw Nick’s words flash across the screen – “The reality today is that black models are virtually unrepresented in fashion” – while Naomi appeared toting machine guns, firing into the distance. While the video generated a lot of dialogue, it didn’t shoot down fashion’s race problem. Women of color continued to be outnumbered by white models in campaigns and on runways.
Years later, Nick and Naomi have sat down to revisit their original film and the state of affairs today. On her decision to join his project, Naomi told Nick, “I loved your words, what you said, how you stood up for us when many don’t” going on to emphasize that “there is still an issue of ignorance in our fashion world.”
Naomi name-checks Jourdan Dunn, Joan Smalls, and Malaika Firth as the new guard of iconic black models, drops some disappointing statistics on women of color appearing on runways and notes that “Miuccia [Prada] has been amazing” in changing her casting practices. Watch Nick and Naomi’s powerful conversation now.
Credits
Text Isabelle Hellyer
Photography Nick Knight
Styling Edward Enninful. [The 30th Birthday Issue, no. 308, Pre-Fall 2010]