Naomi Campbell is more than the model/business woman that she has become. She now counsels one ASEAN government on how to churn out women just like her

Naomi Campbell with Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok

The still-active model Naomi Campbell remains ambitious. But more than just strutting on the runway or promoting fashion around the world, she has now taken up the advisory role of showing a government how to augment their soft power in the world by grooming models who can take the globe by storm. Ms Campbell was in Bangkok at the invitation of the Thai government to guide them into turning Thailand “into a world-class supermodel nation and a fashion centre”, according to the Bangkok Post. What was discussed was not disclosed. The idea of using Ms Campbell was first mooted by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who curiously singled Ms Campbell out, when there are so many other industry professionals who are better placed to advice the Thai government on furthering their fashion industry beyond their shores.

As far as we are aware, Ms Campbell has never worked full-time for a fashion company, nor own one. And, she is manifestly no fashion designer although in 2023, she has collaborated with the American fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing on one unimpressive collection and last year, with Boss on a capsule featuring pieces with antibacterial fabrics (which no doubt appealed to her germophobe self). In 1999, she signed a deal with Cosmopolitan Cosmetics (part of the hair products company Wella) to launch her eponymous perfumes. No one seems to remember any of them. We do recall a ‘Pet a Porter’—you sense the type of fragrance she desired to sell. In 2013, there was the very short-lived The Face TV series (two seasons in The U.S. and one season in the U.K.), a model-search show headlined by Ms Campbell.

Ms Campbell has never worked full-time for a fashion company, nor own one. And, she is manifestly no fashion designer

And there is her charity Fashion for Relief. She has been in the news after she was “banned” as a trustee (for five years) of the foundation linked to her. Investigations following an enquiry in 2021 by the Charity Commission revealed that she used donated funds to pay for a five-star hotel stay in Cannes, as well as other additions, including spa sessions, room service, and, apparently, cigarettes (reportedly, she quit smoking when she turned 50 in the same year of the inquiry). The probe also showed that “between April 2016 and July 2022, only 8.5 per cent of Fashion for Relief’s overall expenditure went on grants to charities”, according to AFP. Ms Campbell denied any wrongdoing, even slamming the watchdog’s findings as “deeply flawed”. A spokesperson for the charity told The Guardian that the model “never engaged in any form of financial misconduct”. She told the media that the charity, which she set up in 2005, was not managed day-to-day by her, but by others.

Although she does not even run the charity that she fronts, Ms Campbell saw herself as the ideal person to help Thailand go further with their fashion ambitions on the world stage. It is not certain what the British model can really do or bring to the table. On the modelling front, some Thai models are already making an impression, such as Amanda Obdam and Kanticha Chumma. Others, e.g. Zak Srakaew, had a bit of luck on their side. Mr Srekaew landed on the Burberry campaign in 2020. It is possible that Ms Campbell was hoping to scout for new faces to load the Dubai-based “talent and partnership agency” she cofounded with PrettyLittleThings founder Umar Kamani last year. Ms Campbell had spent considerable time in Dubai these past years. Could she have met Thaksin Shinawatra there and planted the idea of her advisory capabilities in the ex-PM’s head? The de facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party described his association with the model as “our relationship”.

Ms Campbell holding court Bangkok’s Government House

Thailand, in fact, has one of their own to help pave the way for Thai models and designers to penetrate international markets: Pranpriya (Lalisa) Manoban, popularly known as Lisa of the K-pop group Blankpink. Lisa is a huge global name now. She is a singer (with chart-topping singles), a model (now, with Louis Vuitton to her name), and she is an actress (with an American TV series, The White Lotus, just screened). Perhaps Ms Campbell is just bigger, still milking her supermodel fame, only now she is ready to stand alongside head of states as a world leader! In that, she is more influential, more consultable than Fan Bingbing, who can only become a wordless tourism ambassador. But unlike Ms Fan, Ms Campbell was not in a chut thai (traditional Thai dress) when she made her appearance in Bangkok or in anything her host hoped she would promote.

For the occasion at Bangkok’s Government House, Ms Campbell wore a red-and-white, checked Chanel pantsuit from the 2023 Métiers d’Art collection (then still designed by Virginie Viard). There was an auntie vibe about her turnout (a look G Dragon would probably approve), which was possibly appropriate for the occasion. She met not Thaksin Shinawatra, but his daughter Paetongtarn, the current PM. Ms Shinawatra wore a surprisingly frumpy, ill-fitted, double-breasted khaki pantsuit. The two chatted in the presence of Thai officials, but no one announced if anything concrete came out of the meeting. According to The Nation, “the premier, meanwhile, told the press that she had not invited Campbell to be her adviser yet.” There has been no mention of remuneration either. It is known that Naomi Campbell does not do anything for free or for less than luxurious accommodation and other costly perks. She is, after all, a Super, although no one calls a model that anymore.

Photos: thenation/Instagram