Naomi Campbell's Biography

Naomi Campbell was born on May 22, 1970, in Streatham, London, of Caribbean and Chinese descent.

Naomi Campbell never knew her father. Her mother, who was a contemporary ballet dancer, spent a lot of time away when Naomi was a child.

She was signed to London's Elite model agency and had her first ever fashion shoot in New Orleans at just 15. Three years later Naomi Campbell was the first black woman to feature on the front cover of a major glamour magazine, the French edition of Vogue. She was also the first black model to appear on the cover of Time.

Naomi Campbell rose to fame in tandem with the supermodel phenomenon of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

As at 2005, Campbell commanded a fee of up to $50,000 per show.

She co-authored a novel, "Swan" and followed up with the photo book titled "Naomi".

Naomi Campbell had a number one hit single in Japan called La, La, La, Love Song.

She has had publicised romances with Robert De Niro and Joaquin Cortés, and she was once engaged to U2 bassist Adam Clayton.

In his book, 'A.J.Ayer A Life', Ben Rogers describes Naomi Campbell having a narrow escape: In 1987, while Ayer was visiting the Manhattan home of lingerie magnate Fernando Sanchez he heard a woman hollering that the boxer Mike Tyson was in the process of assaulting a woman in an adjoining room. At age seventy-seven, the buoyant Ayer sprang into action and discovered the fighter attacking the model Naomi Campbell. Ayer ordered him to stop.

"Do you know who the f**k, I am?" Tyson yelled. "I'm the heavyweight champion of the world."

"And I'm the former Wykeham Professor of Logic," Ayer replied."We are both pre-eminent in our fields, I suggest we talk about this like rational men."

As their conversation ensued, Naomi Campbell escaped.

Naomi Campbell herself has had the odd contretemps. In March 2007 she admitted reckless assault and her community service included cleaning floors in a New York municipal warehouse and attending an anger management course.

Naomi Campbell prays every morning and night partly because she is grateful for being sober. In The Naomi Diaries, Campbell explains that: "Some people can handle a drink or a line of cocaine, but I've finally come to realise that, for me, it's all or nothing - and it has to be nothing. And my life has changed since."

Naomi Campbell's agent Steven Klein is also her anger management teacher and he photographed The Naomi Diaries.

In 2009, Naomi Campbell settled a law case with a former maid who accused the model of assaulting her. Campbell denied the claims.

In August 2010 Naomi Campbell gave evidence to a war crimes tribunal in The Hague investigating former Liberian leader Charles Taylor.

In May 2021, she became the mother of a baby girl.

In March 2024, the V&A announced a new exhibition NAOMI: In Fashion, which will cover the supermodel's south London beginnings through to her 40-year career in fashion.