Naomi Campbell says Hello! Magazine presents ‘completely whitewashed’ London

'That's what it sells you, it's awful'

(Getty Images for Leonardo DiCapr)

Naomi Campbell has spoken out about the lack of diversity in fashion magazines, criticising Hello! for presenting what she calls a “completely whitewashed” London.

The supermodel was speaking in The Hague, Netherlands, ahead of an appearance at the One Young World summit, which gathers young leaders from around the world to discuss some of the world’s most pressing issues, from climate change to extremism.

Campbell explained how she’d seen a copy of the magazine in her hotel room and was shocked by its representation of her home town.

"I picked up a Hello! magazine today and if I was not from London I would think 'My god, London is completely whitewashed’,” she told Press Association.

"That's what it sells you, it's awful.

"London is one of the most diverse cities and cosmopolitan cities in the world and we have a huge diversity of people. I was shocked. I was just like 'wow'."

The model didn’t specify which issue of Hello! she had read, but went on to praise close friend and British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, who took over from Alexandra Shulman in August 2017, for bringing diversity to fashion magazines.

“It's (his editorship) uniting a whole different culture of people and innovations, and young people coming together and speaking out and I hope that it continues," she said.

Prior to Enninful’s appointment, British Vogue was frequently criticised for featuring predominantly white women on the cover.

In 2015, Jourdan Dunn was the first black model to front the magazine on her own in 12 years, succeeding Campbell herself.

Since taking the reins at the fashion bible, Enninful has been keen to combat the title’s exclusive reputation, choosing mixed race model Adwoa Aboah as his debut cover star and casting models from a mix of backgrounds for photoshoots in subsequent issues.

Using Enninful as an example, Campbell described the fashion industry’s shift towards diversity as “better late than never,” adding that this season’s runways showed a marked improvement, with designers casting models of a wide range of ethnicities.

The 48-year-old model, who is now a contributing editor at British Vogue, made headlines when Enninful commenced his role at the title by posting a photograph on Instagram of the magazine’s editorial staff as of June 2017, which featured exclusively white faces.

“Looking forward to an inclusive and diverse staff now that @edward_enninful is the editor,” she wrote in a post that has been liked more than 22,700 times.

However, Enninful is not immune to criticism.

The January 2018 issue of the magazine came under fire for featuring two white actors - Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie - on the cover alongside the line: "Why we need to talk about race," a combination which was labelled "tone deaf" by critics.

The Independent has contacted Hello! for comment.