Naomi was recently sentenced to work at New York’s sanitation department for throwing a cell phone at her former housekeeper. Steven Klein followed her during those days and took lots of pictures to be published in W magazine. I think it was a brilliant idea. If I didn’t know the story behind it I would probably think they were done purposely for a photo shoot, a spectacular one at that. The pictures capture emotion, feeling and the untold stories. Too bad most of the pictures were in thumbnail. I love looking at real life pictures like that. My favorite is candid pictures from sports event, especially when the object is my favorite team where I can see the thrill of victory, the struggle, the heartbreaking defeat, the regrets and everything else from their expression.
Anyway, back to Naomi…here are some quotes from the her journal that she wrote during her community service stint.
“What I wear walking into my community service has no connection to what I’m going to do when I get inside. This is how I dress, and this is how I carry myself. What do they expect me to do – walk in looking all drib and drab? I’ve never looked drib and drab in my life”
“I find solace in sweeping. I have no other responsibilities. I have no phone. I have time to think. I just have, you know, peace”
“I keep on sweeping. I’m moving so fast they tell me to slow down. I’m getting very protective of my pile of rubbish–kind of the way I feel about my Hermes handbag or my Louis Vuitton. I keep looking around to make sure no one is crossing into the area I was assigned to sweep. I guess that’s my all-or-nothing behavior again: Once I start sweeping, I have to sweep everything”
“I’m getting all these calls from designers and stylists asking me to wear their clothes. Apparently, people on the Internet are rating my outfits. With everything happening in the word — in Iraq, in Africa — this is what they focus on?”
“Two of the people in the room have never been on a plane. They ask me what it’s like, and I’m embarrassed to tell them I was on seven planes the week before alone”
“I want to walk out of here with my head up. I want to go out in style, and fashion is what I’ve done for 21 years. It’s something that I love. So, when I’m finished with my work, I slip on the silver squined Dolce & Gabbana demi-couture gown that I packed in my bag this morning. I put it on lying down so I can’t be snapped by the paparazzi, who can see in the window. When I get outside, they start screaming, going crazy, as I get into my friend Giuseppe Cipriani’s silver Bentley.
“They tell me some of the things they’ve read about me, like that I have a diamond-encrusted BlackBerry. I start laughing. I’ve never had a diamond-encrusted phone! I’ll leave that to Paris Hilton. It’s not my style”.
You can read the full article here.
Naomi is indeed a living legend, I couldn’t think of anyone who could turn such situation into a fashion parade?!. Next is Paris Hilton who will spend 23 days in jail. She has announced that she will chronicle her days in jail. We’ll see how that turns out.
