Over the Platinum Jubilee weekend in June, a number of British icons got together to celebrate Queen Elizabeth, and one of the revelers who had the most fun was British supermodel Naomi Campbell. Along with Kate Moss and journalist Katie Grand, Campbell rode around London in a bus celebrating British culture in the 1990s during the Platinum Pageant parade on the celebration’s last day. “It was an honor to be there representing my country,” Campbell said on a recent phone call.
Campbell, an ambassador of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust since 2021, is well aware of some of the queen’s good works. “I wanted to celebrate all that she has done and represents around the world,” she said of her motivations for taking part in the pageant. “It was nice to be able to be there and partake as a Brit. It was nostalgic for me—seeing all these people that I knew growing up, that I saw on TV or I saw in sports.”
Courtesy of H&M.
This summer she also got the opportunity to celebrate one of her favorite places in a new campaign for H&M. In a commercial directed by Bardia Zeinali, Campbell plays a fashion insider sitting outside an imaginary restaurant called Brasserie Hennes. In the short film, she wears a scarf and an orange silk blouse from the retailer’s Parisian-inspired fall/winter 2022 collection and sends a theatrical wink to model Jill Kortleve. When it starts to rain, they head inside with models Jordan Barrett and Paloma Elsesser—as well as a handful of influencers, including Molly and Reese Blutstein—to dance to an upbeat disco tune.
“I hope that everybody really enjoys Brasserie Hennes, because it’s a great imaginary world,” she said of the commercial. “It was such a great set and such a great vibe. Paris is one of my favorite cities. The beauty of Paris, the lighting of the buildings—it’s just exquisite.”
Campbell said that she loved working with Zeinali on the campaign. “He is so great to work with. He knows exactly what he wants; he has a great energy. The whole set replicates his energy, his vibe, and the morale. Everyone got along. It was a great day; it was very easy. He was very direct and clear.”
Courtesy of H&M.