If you ever wonder how you manage to survive the passive aggressive relationship you have with your co-workers, housemates or family members – cop a load of this iconic ‘90s photoshoot featuring ultimate frenemies, Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell.
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In 1992, Banks and Campbell appeared alongside fellow model Beverly Peele in a Vogue photoshoot styled by Grace Coddington and shot by Patrick Demarchelier. In the shoot, the trio appear on a yacht wearing matching black bikinis, dresses and straw hats – and let’s be honest, it looked like a cracking arvo out on the water.
However, the reality is – Banks and Campbell were feuding hard during the shoot. At that point, behind-the-scenes beef between the supermodels had reached sizzling temperatures, as discussed in Banks’ 2005 interview with the rival model.
During the interview, Banks brought up the yacht photoshoot and how Naomi tried to help her when she was feeling seasick. “Naomi you said, ‘I have you ask you something…Do they try to make you look like me?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know about so much now, but in LA they really did.’”
“Naomi, you got up, you pushed me away and you said ‘I thought so,’ and you turned,” Banks told Campbell.
Later during the interview, Banks pulled up another photoshoot of the pair lounging on armchairs in their swimsuits. “Do you remember that picture?” Banks asks Campbell. “There was no communication.”
“I went from calling my mum, and saying ‘this is so amazing,’ to calling her and saying, ‘I don’t know what happened, just did a photoshoot, she didn’t speak to me.”
While Campbell remains blasé about their decades-long feud, Banks has brought it up many times. Earlier this year, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Banks said “People didn’t know I was going home crying my eyes out because a woman that I was looking up to seemed like she just didn’t want me to be there, and was doing everything in her power to make me go away.”
You’ve got to give it to Banks and Campbell. Behind closed doors, their relationship was far from sunshine and rainbows, but you’d never know looking at these iconic photoshoots. It’s a testament to their level of professionalism, even in the most passive aggressive of times.
Campbell did eventually address the feud in a 2016 interview with Andy Cohen. “It does irk me that two women of colour have to be pitted against each other,” she said. “You can have more than one woman of colour in a fashion show. Unfortunately, back then, you could only have one so the other felt…put out.”
Sadly, it sounds like Banks and Campbell were merely grappling with the inequalities of the fashion industry during the ‘90s. Kudos to these fierce women for surviving the storm and coming out as graceful as ever.