LONDON — The Charity Commission, a government department for England and Wales, has disqualified Naomi Campbell and others from being charity trustees following an investigation into the mismanagement of funds at Fashion for Relief.
Fashion for Relief was founded by the British supermodel in 2005, with the aim of raising funds for health, education and lifting people out of poverty. The charity has been under investigation since 2021 and was dissolved in March this year.
Campbell had served as chairperson, with Bianka Hellmich and Veronica Chou serving as directors. Campbell has been disqualified for five years; Hellmich for nine years, and Chou for four years following “multiple instances of misconduct or mismanagement.”
The news of Campbell’s disqualification came the same day she was celebrating in Paris, receiving a Legion of Honor.
The Charity Commission found that, between April 2016 and July 2022, only 8.5 percent of Fashion for Relief’s overall expenditure went toward charitable grants.
Paris Hilton walks the runway at Naomi Campbell’s Fashion for Relief in 2015.
Frazer Harrison
The inquiry found that the charity had made payments totaling 290,000 British pounds to Hellmich for consultancy services, which was a breach of the charity’s constitution.
According to the Charity Commission, Hellmich had proactively proposed repaying the funds for her consultancy services.
The Guardian newspaper reported that tens of thousands of pounds of charity funds were spent on “luxury hotel rooms, spa treatments, cigarettes and personal security for Campbell.”
There was no dedicated bank account in the charity’s name and the funds were held and applied to its external professional advisers. When this was investigated, 54,000 British pounds was recovered from one advisory firm.
Princess Beatrice and Sarah Ferguson walk for Fashion for Relief show in 2007.
Getty Images
“Trustees are legally required to make decisions that are in their charity’s best interests and to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities. Our inquiry has found that the trustees of this charity failed to do so, which has resulted in our action to disqualify them,” said Tim Hopkins, the Charity Commission’s deputy director for specialist investigations and standards.
A sum of more than 344,000 pounds was recovered, and a further 98,000 pounds of charitable funds were rescued.
The money that was recovered in the investigation has been donated to the charities that Fashion for Relief had supported.
Campbell’s charity held glamorous fundraising events in London, New York, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Cannes, France, raising money for a variety of causes including British Summer Floods in 2007, the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements and Save the Children in 2018.
Campbell convened celebrities and members of the British royal family who attended the events, some of which doubled as runway shows.
Famous faces included the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and their daughter, Princess Beatrice; Paris Hilton; Justin Bieber; Kendall Jenner; Tyson Beckford, and more.
Plenty of brands got involved in the fundraising too, including Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Iris Van Herpen, Tomo Koizumi and Valentino.
Between 2020 and 2021, Fashion for Relief held online campaigns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last physical event was in 2019. Held at the British Museum, it was for the Mayor’s Fund for London.
That same year, Campbell received the Fashion Icon Award from the British Fashion Council for her contribution to the fashion industry, her career as a supermodel, her philanthropic work “and efforts for a more diverse and equal future, especially in Africa.”
A spokesperson for Campbell declined to comment.
The news of the charity ban broke as Campbell attended a ceremony in Paris, where she was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati.
