This season, it's up to Naomi Campbell to kick off Fashion Week. On September 5 in New York, the 53-year-old British fashion icon presented her collaboration with digital brand PrettyLittleThing and young designers Victor Anate and Edvin Thompson. A collection to which she brought to life on the catwalk, highlighting the inspiration behind the line, which is nothing but her own style during the 1990s.
Naomi Campbell walks the catwalk during the presentation of her collection with Pretty Little Thing (New York, September 5, 2023) Taylor Hill / WireImage
After presenting the seventy pieces of the collection, the illustrious model closed the show. With her famous feline gait, Naomi walked the catwalk wearing an ultra-tight black maxi-dress with a swim collar, designed in transparent mesh and covered with rhinestones. A passage widely applauded by fashionable personalities such as Emily Ratajkowski, Julia Fox, Teyana Taylor or Winnie Harlow seated in the front row of the show.
A collection that is the subject of debate
Announced last June, the collaboration between the accessible ready-to-wear brand and Naomi Campell has already made a lot of noise, sparking mixed reactions. It must be said that PrettyLittleThing is part of the Boohoo group which is the subject (via the association Labour Behind the Label and the Sunday Times) of allegations of poor working conditions in its British factories, and has been pinned by the English parliament for its inaction in the face of the dubious practices of its suppliers. Issues whose spectre hovers, in the middle of the launch of this capsule event collection, on the Instagram page of the brand PrettyLittleThing. Among the comments that appear there, the influencer Camille Charrière lets out a simple "Why?" Another user describes the collaboration between "one of the most respected supermodels and an unethical brand" as "embarrassing."
Naomi Campbell makes a completely different reading: in an interview with US Vogue, she explains that the massive reach of the British brand (which has more than 18 million followers on Instagram) is an opportunity to value and highlight the talents of emerging designers. Indeed, it is in connection with the 20-year-old Nigerian Victor Anate and the 29-year-old Jamaican Edvin Thompson that the icon worked to realize this collection, offering an "avant-garde" vision to Naomi's timeless aesthetic.