Supermodel Naomi Campbell announces collaboration with fast fashion label Pretty Little Thing ahead of New York Fashion Week debut

As Britain’s most celebrated supermodel, 53-year-old Naomi Campbell is used to campaigning for the world’s most prestigious fashion houses, including Prada, Burberry and Saint Laurent.

Now, in a move that has baffled the fashion world, comes her latest collaboration – with Pretty Little Thing, the British fast-fashion label known for mass-producing cheap, low-quality clothes for 16-24 year olds.

Many fashion people heading to New York Fashion Week, where the model’s “Pretty Little Thing, Designed by Naomi Campbell” collection launches next Tuesday, September 5, with a runway show at Manhattan’s iconic Cipriani restaurant, wonder, “Why? did either side on earth do this?’

Naomi has been the face of elite fashion since she became the first black model to grace the cover of Vogue in 1988. This is long before the typical Pretty Little Thing customer was born. As world-famous as she is to a middle-aged audience, most teenagers simply have never heard of her.

Naomi says this is not a barrier. “It’s (a matter of) getting to know a whole different audience that I didn’t know before, or who I thought I didn’t know, or who I thought didn’t know me,” she told American fashion magazine Women’s Wear Daily . yesterday.

For example, the sheer bronze backless mini dress, one of the series’ flagship pieces, is only £35

Still, there’s no denying that she could be the mother – or grandmother – of Pretty Little Thing’s customer base. Perhaps the intention is to broaden the target age range, but the designs simply don’t reflect that. It takes the flawless confidence of a teenager to come out in one of the 15 looks.

They usually have to be made of viscose and polyester, are unlined and prefer styles – spaghetti straps, cut-out details and extreme necklines – that are aggressively youth-oriented.

For example, it is impossible to wear a normal bra or anything other than a thong with any of the styles, excluding anyone over the age of 30 for whom gravity has inevitably taken its toll.

Aside from the 53-year-old Campbell, it seems, although that’s hard to say for sure as some of the advertising images appear to have been airbrushed.

The awards will have universal appeal. For example, the sheer bronze mini dress with no backless chain mail, one of the series’ flagship pieces, costs just £35, while the belted faux leather (aka plastic) trench coat is the most expensive item at £100.

But this reflects how disposable the clothes are and that’s a major reputational risk for Naomi at a time when the smartest in fashion are embracing quality and longevity over cheap throwaways.

By far the most beautiful piece in the collection – even though the neckline falls below the navel – is an elegant jumpsuit with satin lapel, £70. But you have to wonder how many washes it will survive.

Pretty Little Thing is unashamedly fast-fashion at a time when the industry is at least trying to seem concerned about plastic pollution, landfills and the environmental damage it causes.

The belted faux leather (aka plastic) trench coat is the most expensive item at £100

Last month, Campbell attempted to address criticism on the subject by stating that working with a mass-producer allowed her to promote two of the collection’s designers to a much wider audience: Victor Anate, a 20-year-old Nigerian designer, and Edvin Thompson. the Jamaican-born creative director of New York label Theophilio.

Anate teamed up with Campbell to create the dramatic cut-out white bodycon dress, priced at just £28.

Thompson’s creation is an off-white satin (read viscose) slip dress with spaghetti straps, a slanted cut, and an affordable £28 too – the only model anyone over 35 could wear, provided they have the right strapless bra. had.

“I know it’s fast fashion and people have their criticisms,” Naomi told Women’s Wear Daily. ‘I don’t deny them. But as a changemaker, I thought this was a great way to drive change in the industry by getting my emerging designers recognized and seeing them on a global platform.”

But this is Naomi Campbell. If anyone can create opportunities in sustainable and high fashion for young, up and coming designers, it’s definitely her!

Despite this, it’s certainly the most inclusive range Campbell has been involved with: prices range from £28 to £100 and sizes from a UK size 4 to a very un-supermodel-esque 30.

In the short term, I can only assume that this is a big payday for Campbell and that the oddity of the combination generated more headlines than anything that would have been more predictable.

But for an industry supposedly trying to move away from throwaway culture, it can’t help but feel like a huge step backwards, made possible by someone who could have been a “changemaker” to the unsolved problem of fashion and the environment.

The collection will go live on Prettylittlething.com on September 5 at 11 p.m.