Supermodels

Naomi Campbell Wishes Today’s Designers Could Be More Inspired

She discusses her time as a mentor to young talent at New York’s VFILES.
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By Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images.

Naomi Campbell has been in the fashion industry long enough (30 years, though it may not look it) to see it through its good times and bad. She’s watched designers and artists come and go all while maintaining her solidified spot as a renowned supermodel. Recently, Campbell used her longtime experience to help upcoming designers, serving as a mentor for those who earned a spot in VFILES’s New York Fashion Week show. While the new talent was a breath of fresh air, she couldn’t help but note the chaotic state of the fashion industry in 2016.

“I think nowadays designers don’t have time anymore to get that inspiration that they used to,” she admitted while talking to VFILES. “It’s so fast. They have to turn around so many collections in such a short space of time, and it starts to get on them.”

Designers have echoed her thoughts over the past few years. Raf Simons, who resigned as creative director of Dior last October, once lamented to Cathy Horyn that he’s “not the kind of person who likes to do things so fast,” adding, “I think if I had more time, I would reject more things, and bring other ideas or concepts in.” The revolving door of designer entries and exits, such as Peter Copping at Oscar de la Renta and Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent, have quietly confirmed Simons’s opinion that the industry is moving faster than its main creative directors can keep up.

Still, Campbell is holding out hope for the upcoming wave of talent. “I think having that freshness, whether they’re going to work for themselves or going to work with another designer, it’s uplifting.”