Many words come to mind upon hearing the name Naomi Campbell. Those words might be "anger" or "diva" (depending who you ask). But there's one word everyone can agree on: "supermodel." The legendary model is undoubtedly one of the most famous women to ever strut her stuff on the catwalk, and she will go down in history as one of the most influential and provocative style icons.
Campbell was born in South London to a single mother of Jamaican descent. She got her first big break at age seven when she was chosen to appear in Bob Marley's "Is This Love" music video. From then on she was the star of the show, sought out in the 1980's by top designers such as Azzedine Alaïa and Valentino. In fact, Versace cast her in every runway show for two decades. Her success earned her a part in "The Trinity" along with her peers Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington (who took her under her wing).
Aside from her extremely successful modeling career, Campbell is known for her quick temper. Most famously, she pleaded guilty to assaulting her housekeeper in 2007 and was punished with five days of community service and anger-management classes. Of course, Campbell never let a scandal get in the way of good style: She dutifully fulfilled her community service wearing designer dresses (check 'em out in the photos below). At the time, Campbell said, "I keep on sweeping. I'm getting very protective of my pile of rubbish -- kind of the way I feel about my Hermès handbag."
Campbell has a softer side, too, contributing to many charities. Most notably, she founded "Fashion for Relief," a series of fashion shows to help the victims of tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and the earthquake in Japan in 2011.
Today, she keeps busy as one of three supermodel judges of the reality show "The Face" along with Karolina Kurkova and Coco Rocha. Oh, and she's still modeling.
Today, Campbell turns 43 years old. In honor of the beautiful and fabulous woman she is, we are taking a look back at her style, from 1988 to today. She still rocks the runway!
Happy birthday to the unstoppable Naomi Campbell.
