NAOMI CAMPBELL FASHION ICON

Naomi Campbell decried the dearth of minority models in the fashion world while receiving a Fashion Icon award at the annual Thurgood Marshall College Fund “Front Row” fund-raiser and fashion show at Roseland Ballroom in New York on Saturday evening. Introduced by modeling agent and Black Girls Coalition co-founder Bethann Hardison, Campbell called the situation an “injustice,” and said, “There is a small group of people whose minds we have to change because we are living in a multicultural society.”

Campbell, sheathed in Dolce & Gabbana and Dennis Basso, added she loves fashion and is fortunate to have worked in the business for 25 years, but she isn’t afraid to stir the pot on this issue. “Nelson Mandela always told me to speak my mind and the consequences will take care of themselves,” she noted, before leaving to board a plane for Moscow for a Russian Vogue project, with boyfriend Vladimir Doronin in tow.

Also honored at the event were Fashion Institute of Technology president Dr. Joyce Brown, makeup artist Sam Fine and Oprah Winfrey’s hairstylist, Andre Walker. Marlon Jackson was on hand to accept the Avant Guarde award on behalf of his late brother, Michael Jackson.

Walker was accompanied by other members of Winfrey’s glam squad, including makeup artist Reggie Wells and stylist Luke Destin. “If it were left up to Oprah, she’d be in sweatpants and sneakers on a daily basis,” Destin told WWD. “But she trusts us. We have a look for her — conservative chic — and a group of go-to designers. These days, she loves Narciso Rodriguez, Valentino, Oscar de la Renta and Tory Burch.”

(Source: WWD)