Naomi Campbell has been hit with backlash from fans over her newly announced collaboration with fast fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing (PLT).
The supermodel, 53, who has modelled for Prada, Yves Saint Laurent and Burberry, is expected to release a clothing line with PLT in the coming months after the brand shared a promotional video to tease the collaboration.
In it, a director’s chair is left empty on a photoshoot set, with the words: “PrettyLittleThing designed by Naomi Campbell coming soon.”
The retailer has previously been criticised for contributing to the fast fashion cycle – an industry which is based on mass-producing low-cost, low-quality clothes and accessories.
The negative environmental impacts of fast fashion are well-known, with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) previously naming the fashion industry the second-biggest consumer of water and “responsible for eight to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined”.
The forthcoming collaboration has been labelled by fans as “disappointing” and “shocking” due to the brand’s fast fashion business model.
“Naomi Campbell x PLT is the most disappointing collab to come out in recent times….I have no words,” wrote on Twitter user.
“This Naomi Campbell x PLT news has hit me hard,” another added. “Is this just proof that the whole sustainable fashion system is so unattainable that we’ve pretty much given up / decided it’s not our problem to fix?”
One fan wrote: “Never thought I’d see the day where PLT and a whole Naomi Campbell collab,” as another added: “A high fashion model for a fast fashion IG influencer online boutique??!! How do you go from Valentino to PLT? I HAVE QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERS.”
The Independent has contacted representatives of Campbell and PLT for comment.
The company has seen some major changes in its directorial roles recently. Last month, former Love Island star Molly-Mae-Hague stepped back from her creative director role to focus on her baby daughter Bambi.
The brand typically works with influencers and reality TV stars who front their campaigns. After leaving the Love Island villa in 2019, Hague signed with the online fast fashion outlet as creative director as she became the face of the brand.
“I am still working with them and doing collections and edits, but I have actually decided to step down as my creative director role,” Hague said in a YouTube video last month.
“Over the last few weeks, I have realised that I’m only going to get this time once with my first-born child and I’m only going to get Bambi being four months old once and I feel like I’ve had to rearrange my life a little bit and lose some commitments that I did have.”
Hague added that she did not give herself maternity leave because her work is her “phone” but the decision to leave the role at the company was “collectively” decided with the brand.
The news comes as Campbell announced she has welcomed her second child, a baby boy, on Thursday (29 June). Campbell shared the surprise on Instagram with a photo of herself and her two-year-old daughter holding hands with the newborn.
“It’s never too late to become a mother,” Campbell wrote in the caption.
