Table of contents:

Sworn friends Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell: Why two black models couldn't find a common language
Sworn friends Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell: Why two black models couldn't find a common language

Video: Sworn friends Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell: Why two black models couldn't find a common language

Video: Sworn friends Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell: Why two black models couldn't find a common language
Video: Julia Butters: A Rising Star in Hollywood's Young Generation - YouTube 2024, November
Anonim
Image
Image

The fashion world has its own unspoken rules, and the competition between models is so high that it looks more like outright hostility. It is known that two dark-skinned models Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell do not get along with each other. In some photographs, where two dark-skinned beauties pose together, they can be mistaken for close friends, but they have never been friends, and the origins of their dislike lie in the distant 1990s.

Two stars

Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell

In 1991, People magazine included Naomi Campbell in the list of the 50 most beautiful women in the world. Her star rose rapidly: after the first photo of a black model appeared on the cover of "Elle" in 1986, a flurry of offers literally fell upon her.

She became one of the most sought-after and highly paid models, she was called "black panther" and was invited to shows by the best fashion houses.

Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks signed her first contract with a modeling agency at the age of 17 and then made her catwalk debut in Paris. The young beauty instantly won the hearts of the public and the sympathy of designers. In just seven days after her first release, Tyra received invitations from 25 fashion designers. It was a real success.

Confrontation

Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell

Naomi Campbell took the appearance of her direct competitor with obvious caution. She, like no one else, knew: in the fashion horizon there simply cannot be two stars with a dark skin color. There should be one star and, undoubtedly, it will be her, a graceful black panther, a favorite of photographers, designers and all high society.

Naomi was not going to concede a single gram of her popularity to an unknown novice model. She was not going to compete with the young Tyra Banks, she was going to resist the rise of a new star in every possible way.

Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks

Black Panther did not soften even after finding out that she was the idol of the aspiring model. For Taira, Naomi was a role model, an object of her admiration and in fact an almost unattainable ideal.

Tyra looked at her with mute adoration, but in response she met the icy, and sometimes dislike, look of her colleague on the catwalk. The first days in the fashion capital of the world were very difficult for Banks. A monstrous load, an endless change of outfits, camera flashes. And a cruel confrontation from the very woman whom Tyra had dreamed of meeting for so long! At night, the girl sobbed into her pillow and could not understand why Naomi Campbell categorically did not accept her.

Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell

At every meeting, the Black Panther made it clear to Tyra: she does not belong here. She did everything so that the disappointed and offended Banks left the fashion world and never again admitted the thought that she could become a model of the same level as Naomi herself.

Reasons for dislike

Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell

But already in 1997, Tyra received the title of Supermodel of the Year according to one of the music channels, then she became the first African-American woman to appear for advertising the Victoria's Secret catalog.

It took quite a few years before Tyra Banks could understand the reasons for the hostile attitude towards herself on the part of the recognized beauty and supermodel.

Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell

When Campbell was whispered from all sides about the appearance of a promising competitor, she was simply desperately afraid: Tyra would take her place, and Naomi herself would be forced to vegetate in oblivion, content with second-rate shows. There was no room in the fashion industry for two dark-skinned beauties.

Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell

Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks have been at the same level for a long time, only each model has its own niche and it would seem that they have nothing to share for a long time. Now Tyra says that she understands very well how much the fear of losing her place in the fashion world, giving it up to another, equally beautiful and talented model, dominated Naomi.

Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell

Their rivalry is far in the past, and Tyra Banks, according to her, has forgotten all her grievances. However, she left the podium much earlier than her rival for a career in television. And she even invited Naomi Campbell to her show.

In the 1990s. Naomi Campbell became the first black model, whose photos appeared on the covers of "Vogue" and "Time" magazines, her name was called among the 50 most beautiful women in the world, not a single fashion show could do without her. However, she was known not only for her achievements in the modeling business, but also for her scandalous behavior: for her tough temper, Naomi Campbell earned the nickname "black panther". But lately everything has changed.

Recommended: