The shoes Naomi fell in went to a museum

The hook

Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania show, 1993. Naomi Campbell, 22, walks out in blue mock-croc platforms: a 5-inch sole under a 9-inch heel. Her ankle goes. She falls, sits there laughing, then gets up and finishes the walk.

The X-Ray

The V&A has X-rayed the shoe. Westwood called it the Super Elevated Gillie, after the laced ghillie, and said shoes needed high heels and platforms "to put women's beauty on a pedestal."

28 centimetres of heel.

What was happening

She wore them again

1993 was the height of the supermodel era, and Campbell was one of the most booked faces on any runway. Months after the fall she posed with Westwood at the Designer of the Year Awards, back in the same blue platforms.

The detail people forgot

The museum called that year

Someone from the V&A's fashion team contacted Westwood almost immediately after the fall. The museum acquired a pair the same year, given by the designer. Its curator calls them the best-known shoes in the collection.

Why it matters now

In 2024 the V&A put them back on display in NAOMI: In Fashion, a retrospective of her 40 years in the industry. Campbell has said the fall booked her two commercials.

A runway accident became a museum object.