For many years, Naomi Campbell organized Fashion for Relief, a charity fashion show attached to London Fashion Week. There hasn’t been a Fashion for Relief event in years – since 2019, from what I can see. Fashion for Relief supposedly raised money to support charities working in Africa. Well, Britain’s Charity Commission did some digging and they discovered that nothing was as it seemed. Now Naomi Campbell has been banned from “being a charity trustee” for five years, following the Charity Commission’s investigation.
Naomi Campbell has been banned from being a charity trustee after a watchdog investigation uncovered widespread evidence of financial misconduct at the poverty relief charity she founded. The supermodel was disqualified for five years after a Charity Commission inquiry found that Fashion for Relief passed on only a small fraction of the millions of pounds it raised from star-studded celebrity fashion events to good causes.
The charity inappropriately spent tens of thousands of pounds on luxury hotel rooms, flights, spa treatments, personal security and cigarettes for Campbell, while unauthorised consultancy payments running into hundreds of thousands of pounds were made to one of Campbell’s fellow trustees, the commission said.
It found that over a five-year period from 2016, Fashion for Relief raised just under £4.8m from a series of fashion shows but paid out only £389,000 in grants to partner charities once the cost of events and other expenses were accounted for.
Nearly £350,000 was later recovered from the charity by interim managers appointed by the commission and paid to the charities Save the Children and the Mayor’s Fund for London, which reported Fashion for Relief to the regulators four years ago after failing to receive promised payments from fundraising agreements..
Campbell’s fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich, who the inquiry found received £290,000 in unauthorised consultancy fees and £26,000 a year in travel expenses from the charity over a two-year period, was disqualified from being a charity trustee for nine years. Hellmich proposed to the commission to repay the fees and expenses in February 2022 and a repayment plan was agreed with the commission. The full amount was repaid in April 2023. A third trustee, Veronica Chou, was banned for four years.
Fashion for Relief has previously argued that it was not solely a fundraising charity but also a platform that, through its high-profile fundraising events, encouraged donors to give directly to its partner charities and good causes. The commission report, however, reveals that it did not immediately pay Save the Children €450,000 (£375,000) raised at a 2017 fundraising event. Fashion for Relief paid some of the funds, and the remaining money it owed – £147,000 – was eventually paid by Fashion for Relief’s interim managers in January 2023.
The commission’s investigation also had details like Naomi using Fashion for Relief funds to stay at a “€3,000-a-night hotel room” in Cannes. She also used the charity’s funds for “just under €8,000 on spa treatments, room service, purchases of cigarettes and hotel products.” Sounds like she was using her charity as her own personal piggy bank. £4.8 million raised from Fashion for Relief events and only £389,000 in charitable grants? And Naomi was only suspended for five years? She should have been given a lifetime ban for this insane grift.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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USA Rights Only – LOndon, England – 11/27/2014 Naomi Campbell’s Fashion For Relief Pop-Up Shop Launch – Arrivals
-PICTURED: Naomi Campbell
-PHOTO by: James Warren/Photobeat Images/startraksphoto.com
-Startraks_XPX_158774Editorial – Rights Managed Image – Please contact www.startraksphoto.com for licensing fee
Startraks Photo
New York, NY
For licensing please call 212-414-9464 or email [email protected]
Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this image. If you violate our intellectual property you may be liable for actual damages, loss of income, and profits you derive from the use of this image, and where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or statutory damages.Featuring: Naomi Campbell
Where: LOndon, England, United Kingdom
When: 27 Nov 2014
Credit: James Warren/Photobeat Images/startraksphoto.com**USA Rights Only**
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North America Rights Only – London, UK -20190624- Naomi Campbell and Caroline Rush attend The Fashion Awards 2019 and Fashion For Relief special announcement at The Ritz.
-PICTURED: Naomi Campbell
-PHOTO by: INSTARimages.comDisclaimer:
This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at [email protected] or call 1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishingFeaturing: Naomi Campbell
Where: London, England, United Kingdom
When: 24 Jun 2019
Credit: INSTARimages.com**North America Rights Only**
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North/South America, UK, Australia Rights Only – London , UK –
North/South America, UK, Australia Rights Only – London -England-20191126- Naomi Campbell Fashion For Relief Pop-Up.
-PICTURED: Naomi Campbell
-PHOTO by: Keith Mayhew/IPA/INSTARimages.com
-IPA_IPA17775076.jpgThis is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at [email protected] or call 1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
Featuring: Naomi Campbell
Where: London , England, UK
When: 26 Nov 2019
Credit: Keith Mayhew/IPA/INSTARimages.com**North/South America, UK, Australia Rights Only**
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Models walk the runway of Tod’s fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Women’s collections – Spring/Summer 2025 in Milan, Italy
Featuring: Naomi Campbell
Where: Milan, Italy
When: 20 Sep 2024
Credit: Marco Piovanotto/Abaca Press/INSTARimages**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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Models walk the runway of Tod’s fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Women’s collections – Spring/Summer 2025 in Milan, Italy
Featuring: Naomi Campbell
Where: Milan, Italy
When: 20 Sep 2024
Credit: Marco Piovanotto/Abaca Press/INSTARimages**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
