Naomi Campbell just scored a deal with NARS Cosmetics, which off the bat may not seem like major news but the fact is, it’s the first beauty deal she’s gotten in her 30-year career.
“’Oh you’ve got beautiful skin’ and yet I’ve never done one,’” she told the Evening Standard. “Why? You know why.”
The writer of the piece explained that Campbell gave her a funny look to imply skin color was at the root of this being her first beauty deal.
But regardless of the three-decade wait, the model said she’s incredibly happy to be the face of NARS, who was created by makeup guru Francois Nars.
“Very excited to be the new face of NARS Cosmetics,” she wrote on Instagram. Campbell also revealed that Nars took the promo photo for the campaign, and he spoke about working with the English beauty as well.
“Naomi is a living icon and brings such strong personality to the camera,” he stated. “She and I are like family. I have known her since the very beginning of her career. From the start, I have admired her, her beauty and her style.”
In regards to this being Campbell’s first beauty deal and attributing it to a lack of diversity in fashion, it’s a topic that she’s spoken about times, perhaps most famously when she addressed it in her book.
“When I started out, I wasn’t being booked for certain shows because of the color of my skin,” she wrote. “I didn’t let it rattle me. From attending auditions and performing at an early age, I understood what it meant to be Black. You had to put in the extra effort. You had to be twice as good.”