Supermodel Naomi Campbell has said the fashion industry is more racist than ever and has hit out at the lack of black faces on magazine covers and catwalks.
Speaking to The London Paper, the Streatham-born Campbell said: "Women of colour are not a trend. That's the bottom line. It's a pity that people don't always appreciate black beauty."
She added: "In some instances, black models are being sidelined by major modelling agencies. Fashion needs to go back to the way it used to be when wonderful designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace and Azzedine Alaia had a great line-up of beautiful women - white, black, Chinese, Hispanic."
Campbell, 37, admitted that her supermodel friends helped her career by taking a stand against racism.
"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'", she recalled.
Talking about how she received one of her biggest career breaks in the fashion industry she said: "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."
The star spoke out after her former boss admitted racism was still rife in the industry.
Carole White, head of the Premier model agency, who represented Campbell for 17 years, said: "A black girl has to be perfect to get work. The bookers are told, 'Don't send any ethnic girls'."
She added: "I showed a picture of a new black girl to an agent in Milan, and he actually recoiled. He said, 'We don't have black girls in Milan. It's impossible.'"
Speaking about her former client she said: "Black models never make money. Even Naomi Campbell didn't make money like the white girls did, she was always offered less."
