Diversity in fashion (or lack thereof) has been a hot topic for a number of years, and one top model has had enough.
Naomi Campbell recently opened up to Town & Country editor Stellene Volandes on why she won't "shut up" until inclusion is the norm.
"I did look online at the couture shows and it was a little bit disappointing," she shared during an interview this week at Hearst Tower in Manhattan, New York. "This week we’re starting off in New York. We do a count [of diverse models]. We really hope it’s not going to go backwards — I always try to be optimistic — but if it does, then they will hear us again.”
She continued, "I do feel that Iman and I will not shut up until it gets to the point where it’s equal, balanced."
And for the 46-year-old Brit, it's personal, as she has dealt with her fair share of discrimination as a black model in the '80s.
During the interview, Campbell reminisced about the time she was almost denied a French Vogue cover before designer Yves Saint Laurent stood up for her by threatening to pull advertising.
Campbell also noted that magazines, filmmakers and designers shouldn't feature diverse women because they think it's trendy, but rather because it's the right thing to do.
But despite the long road ahead, the supermodel still seems to be optimistic about the future of fashion.
"It’s getting better, I think... It’s just a feeling. There’s no count yet... I think things have to evolve and I think that it’s different things for different folks," she told The New York Times in September. "At the end of the day, it’s good to have the foundation of knowing how to be a model. We’re hoping diversity will give the model a chance no matter what. But that comes once she’s booked."
And of course the runway queen will be keeping a close watch on things, telling fashion photographer Nick Knight in 2015 that she doesn't plan on retiring until the industry is balanced.
"I didn’t work 28 years for it to be a trend," she said. "That’s one of the things that keeps me wanting to work. I can’t duck out yet. I feel I still have to represent."
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