[19] In 1986, while still a student of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Campbell was scouted by Beth Boldt, head of the Synchro Model Agency, while window-shopping in Covent Garden.
[14][22] Over the next few years, Campbell walked the catwalk for such designers as Gianni Versace, Azzedine Alaïa, and Isaac Mizrahi and posed for such photographers as Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts, and Bruce Weber.
[14] By the late 1980s, Campbell, with Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista, had formed a trio known as the "Trinity",[14] who became the most recognisable and in-demand models of their generation.
[14] In January 1990, Campbell, who was declared "the reigning megamodel of them all" by Interview,[26] appeared with Turlington, Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz on a cover of British Vogue, shot by Peter Lindbergh.
[30] In 1993, Campbell twice appeared on the cover of American Vogue; in April, alongside Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, Stephanie Seymour and Helena Christensen, and again, solo, in June.
[21][14] In November of that year, she posed with 12 other top models for the "Modern Muses" cover of the Millennium Issue of American Vogue, shot by Annie Leibovitz.
[14] In July 2008, she appeared with fellow black models Liya Kebede, Sessilee Lopez and Jourdan Dunn on the gatefold cover of a landmark all-black issue of Italian Vogue, shot by Steven Meisel.
In September of that year, Campbell reunited with Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and Stephanie Seymour for "A League of Their Own", a Vanity Fair feature on the supermodel legacy.
[37] Campbell performed with Kate Moss and other supermodels in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, where they modelled haute couture to represent British fashion.
[42] The following year, she closed the Fall/Winter Zac Posen show at New York Fashion Week,[43] and featured in Spring/Summer 2015 campaigns for Burberry and lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur.
[44] In 2015, Campbell signed on as a recurring character in the Fox drama Empire as Camilla Marks, a fashion designer and love interest to Hakeem Lyon, portrayed by Bryshere Y.
In October 2015, Campbell was featured in a two-episode arc in American Horror Story: Hotel, as a Vogue fashion editor named Claudia Bankson.
[57] In July 2022, Campbell was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCA (University for the Creative Arts) in the south of London for her impact on global fashion.
Photographed by Mikael Jansson, the campaign features familiar faces from the ’90s and 2000s, as well as new model-ambassadors Paloma Elsesser, Adut Akech, Emily Ratajkowski, and Hailey Bieber.
The series also features Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista and is directed by Roger Ross Williams and Larissa Bills.
[67] In June 2024, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London launched a solo exhibition titled "Naomi: In Fashion”, which highlighted Campbell's philanthropic work and activism.
[21][68][69][70] As of 2024, Campbell has walked the catwalks and appeared in advertising campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent, Chloé, Diane Von Furstenberg, Prada, Chanel, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Zac Posen, Blumarine, Karl Lagerfeld, Gianfranco Ferré, Versace, Helmut Lang, Christian Dior, John Galliano, Ralph Lauren, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Anna Sui, Louis Vuitton, Hermés, Marchesa, Roberto Cavalli, Valentino, Fendi, Escada, Isaac Mizrahi, La Perla, Philipp Plein, Mango, Thierry Mugler, Balmain, Nars,[71] David Yurman, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, DSquared2, Express, H&M, Bloomingdale's, Dillard's, Neiman Marcus, Gap, Avon, Revlon and Victoria's Secret.
Despite her status as the most famous black model of her time, Campbell never earned the same volume of advertising assignments as her white colleagues,[72] and she was not signed by a cosmetics company until as late as 1999.
In an open letter to the governing bodies of global fashion weeks, they named high-profile designers who used just one or no models of colour in their Autumn 2013 shows, calling it a "racist act".
[14] Held at Nelson Mandela's South African presidential residence,[14] the show was the subject of a documentary titled FashionKingdom, or alternatively, Naomi Conquers Africa.
[83][84][85] In November 2010, Campbell and her then partner Vladislav Doronin were among the organisers of the Help the Tiger charity event, which took place at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and which was attended by Leonardo DiCaprio and Vladimir Putin.
[90][91] Since 2007, Campbell has been the honorary president of Athla Onlus, an Italian organisation that works to further the social integration of young people with learning disabilities.
[97][98] In July 2021, Campbell condemned racist attacks on black players for the England national football team, including Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, after the team's defeat to Italy in the UEFA Euro 2020 soccer final, disclosing via an Instagram post that it was disgusting to read of the abuses and encouraging players not to let the ignorant voices in.
[103] These included paying for Campbell's stay at a five-star hotel in Cannes, France, as well as spa treatments, room service, security and cigarettes.
[107][108] Campbell appealed against the ban, saying that she was a "victim of fraud and forgery" and "concerted deception" by a fellow trustee, and that she has "never undertaken philanthropic work for personal gain".
[20][112] She attended her community service wearing designer outfits, including fedoras, furs and a silver-sequinned $300,000 Dolce & Gabbana gown upon completion of her sentence.
[14][20] Campbell detailed her community service experience in a W feature titled "The Naomi Diaries", and subsequently spoofed herself in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial, directed by Zach Braff.
[20] She first met Mandela in November 1994, after his party, the African National Congress, invited her to travel to South Africa to meet with their leader.
[127] In August 2019, Campbell addressed the relationship on her YouTube channel, admitting she knew Epstein after being introduced to him by ex-boyfriend Flavio Briatore, stating: "What he's done is indefensible, when I heard what he had done, it sickened me to my stomach, just like everybody else, because I've had my fair share of sexual predators and thank God I had good people around who protected me from this.
[134] In 2002, Campbell won a breach of confidentiality lawsuit against the Daily Mirror, after the newspaper published a photograph of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.