Naomi Campbell Biography

Naomi Campbell was "discovered" in a London shopping mall at age 15 and become one of the A-list models of the 1990s. After making her first cover appearance on the British edition of Elle, she went on to pose for Vogue, Sports Illustrated, GQ and many other magazines. (According to her official biography, “Naomi was the first black model to appear on the covers of Time magazine, and French and British Vogue.”) Campbell is known as an aggressive and effective marketer of her own brand; among other ventures, she released her own perfume and cosmetics lines and co-wrote the 1997 novel Swan. Her reputation as a prima donna was enhanced over the years when a string of personal assistants accused her of abusive behavior, several of them saying she had struck them with telephones. She’s also known for her romantic dalliances with celebrities including actor Robert DeNiro and Italian millionaire Flavio Briatore.