Ketty Adewole has been touted as the next Naomi Campbell, but the similarities run far deeper than their good looks and modelling prowess.
Adewole, 21, who makes her first appearance in the British edition of Vogue this month, has faced poverty and racism.
Like Campbell, who was brought up by her single mother in Streatham, South London, Adewole’s upbringing in Hackney, East London, was challenging.
When she was 11, her Nigerian-born mother was evicted from their flat and took Betty and her elder brother to live in a hostel where they stayed for two years.
“It wasn’t as damp as our old flat. The living conditions there were better. There were other families living there, so we always had company, but it was not home. You didn’t have much privacy. It was very unsettling,” Adewole said.
Her mother wanted her to go to the university, but Adewole, a talented sportswoman, was spotted by a fashion scout while shopping on Tottenham Court Road, central London, at the age of 15.
Campbell was also 15 when she was seen by a scout shopping, but in Covent Garden.
Adewole’s career took off when she moved to IMG, a global management agency, last year and was advised to cut her waist-length hair and adopt a tomboy look. At the same time, Campbell was leading calls for fashion houses to feature more black and Asian models on catwalks.
“Designers paid attention and made an effort…I have experienced racism in modelling. It’s kind of expected if you are an ethnic model in the industry,” said Adewole, who still lives with her mother.
On one occasion during the London Fashion Week, Adewole was told to leave a casting because she was black. “I could have left and thought, ‘What’s wrong with me? I hate how I am. I want to have blue eyes and blonde hair’. But mum told me every day that I’m beautiful,” she said.
Tom Ford, the designer who has made Adewole the face of his cosmetics range, said: “I love Betty. When she walked into my office for the first time, she exuded confidence.”
Adewole deflects comparisons to Campbell: “She’s an amazing model, but I’m very different. I’m Betty Adewole.”
Culled from The Sunday times
