Keeping up with Kampbell
The Kardashians are known for their unique styles that often spark trends. More recently, several of the sisters have taken major inspiration from super model Naomi Campbell. Campbell is a British model who began her career at the age of 15 and was the first black model on several magazine covers, including French Vogue at 18 and Time magazine. She remains to be one of the most in demand models in the industry. The looks they are doing are copies of the model’s runway looks, mostly from the ‘90s. No one was dropping names, but Naomi acknowledged the Kardashians outfits by posting an old photo of her in one of the looks they had redone. Kim then posted on Instagram giving credit to Campbell for the looks she had done.
Kim was not the only one bringing back these looks. Youngest sister Kylie posted a photo on Instagram captioned “My friends: Let’s have a Chill Night Me:” along with a photo of her in rhinestone sunglasses and a matching choker. Two days later Campbell posted the original photo of the rhinestone look and captioned it “#MOOD”. On Kylies post her fans were praising her saying “ooh” and “me on my way to the grocery store” not paying attention to where her inspiration came from. Meanwhile Naomi’s post was filled with comments calling out Jenner “Let the girls know since they don't give credit when due”
One commenter on Diet Prada’s post on the issue stated their opinion with a small essay. “Let’s be clear. These Kardashian/Jenner girls are not online searching for vintage Rifat Ozbek looks, or Versace couture gowns. They are searching for Naomi Campbell. She is the common denominator in so many of their looks. They aren’t being inspired by the designers, they are being inspired by the image of Naomi, a black woman who has repeatedly influenced the fashion industry more than any other model in its history. But the industry has repeatedly failed to give her due recognition. It’s offensive to not only people who have followed Naomi’s career and how she’s been disrespected by ignorance and racism, but it’s offensive to black people who have worked tirelessly to be seen as equals in the fashion/beauty industry, only to not receive their due recognition for all their hard work. It’s also just offensive to anyone with taste, when you are taking vintage couture and showcasing it with a blurry ass iPhone camera with shit lighting like you’re at a middle-class suburban backyard party. If you’re going to rip off the hardest working model in the business, at least increase your budget on the photoshoot.” And the other portion of comments were supporting the Kardashians recreations “Naomi is a model. Her job is to market goods to potential consumers. Clearly she did a good job if over 20 years later someone wants to wear it but is it ripping off?” The comments on each post were on opposite ends of the spectrum, giving us a diverse pool of comments look at.
In the past there has been some tension between the superstar and the Karjenner family. On an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2018, he asked Campbell “What is your views on Kendall Jenner being the highest paid model while saying she cherry picks her jobs and could never do thirty shoes in a season?” Her response was “Next question”. Obviously, the family took this as shade and said that it caused Kendall anxiety and she felt bullied by fellow model. Others took it as Naomi defending her era of modeling that took a lot more work than having a large amount of Instagram followers in order to get picked up for a runway show.
Are the Kardashians negatively stealing some of Campbells iconic looks? Or are they paying her compliments? The whole situation has brought light to more of Naomi’s past work and a lot of hate towards the sisters for not being original. When we look at their Instagram history, the model is not the first to be a victim of the copy cat behavior. Most of the problem comes from the duplication of these looks that are being promoted by Kim that do not belong to her. Is imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
Strike Out,
Writer: Audrey Estupinan
Editor: Savannah Tindall
Tallahassee