Naomi Campbell's racism claims

Sep 17, 2007, 11:14 GMT

08/29/2007 - Naomi Campbell - Unveiling of Nelson Mandela Statue in London - Parliament Square - London, England © Solarpix / PR Photos

Naomi Campbell has accused British Vogue of snubbing her because she is black, despite gracing its cover eight times.

The supermodel joined other black style icons - including Iman, Andre Leon Talley and Tracy Reese - on the panel of the Blacks in Fashion event on Friday (14.09.07), where she claimed the magazine has repeatedly refused to put her on their cover.

Naomi said: "I've never been on the cover of British Vogue and I've asked a million times and they've always refused me.

"They'll put the same white model for half the year, I swear like six times, but wouldn't put me on once in my own country. But I still want my British Vogue cover!"

Despite her claims, Naomi has been on the cover of British Vogue eight times since 1987 - twice with other models, once with hip-hop mogul P. Diddy and five times on her own.

The 37-year-old catwalk queen also claims she has struggled to get ahead in the fashion industry because of her ethnic origin.

She said: "The only time they care about black models is in February because it is Black History Month.

"Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington would go to big designers and say, 'If you don't pick Naomi to be in your show, then I don't want to be in it.' That's how I got Prada and Helmut Lang.

"The only reason I got the cover of French Vogue was because Yves Saint Laurent called up and told them he'd pull his ads if they didn't. So of course I got the cover."

(C) BANG Media International