This past Tuesday, Vogue Club hosted an exclusive after-hours viewing of NAOMI: In Fashion at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Aside from the cocktails and canapés and the once-in-a-blue-moon chance to privately tour the blockbuster exhibition—dedicated to the life and work of the inimitable Naomi Cambell—it was the Vogue Club members in attendance that made the evening so special.
“We have been working on this event for more than six months—planning everything down to a tee,” said Vogue’s European Features Director and Club’s Senior Fashion Projects Editor Julia Hobbs, who took to the mic for opening remarks.
Hobbs, who spoke to Campbell for British Vogue’s March issue in advance of the exhibition’s summer opening, told an amazing story about being caught off-guard when the legend called her for the piece: “I got to Pret on a rainy Tuesday and my phone rings, and I say: ‘It’s Naomi, isn’t it?’ and she responds: ‘Yes it is—hello Julia.’ I was like: ‘You’ve rang me when I haven’t got any of my recording equipment!’” Hobbs then detailed scrambling back to Vogue’s HQ to document the interview properly.
Members soon forayed into the exhibition to explore the supermodel’s most-treasured—and truly timeless—pieces. Starting from Campbell’s childhood documents and dreams, the ensuing galleries journeyed through her unexpected scouting in London’s Covent Garden and her activism for diversity in the fashion industry, taking us right up to her modern-day support of emerging designers.
For some, a standout moment was the Dolce and Gabbana dress Campbell wore when serving her highly publicized period of court-ordered community service. For others, it was her time covering the 2007 “Black issue” of Vogue Italia, where she called for greater diversity on the catwalk.
What’s more, an installation that allowed visitors to envision walking the runway themselves served as an opportunity for Club members to embody the life and looks of one of the world’s most recognizable supermodels.
See some of the best pics from the night below.