Probably 2 of the biggest rival-models in the Fashion business;
Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell. Two very powerful Black women who've blazed the field with their gorgeous looks and stunning presense on the runways.
Locked in what seemed like an eternal battle to out shine (in model speak, out-pout and out-pose) each other.
'Who's gonna be on the cover of the next magazine?", "Who's going to front that next ad-campaign?" ,"Who's doing which runway show?" ,"Who's the new muse of whom?"The biatching never seemed to reach a halt.
Fast foward a decade and things are beginning to look a little different now.
Still names chained to each other not unlike Whitney and Mariah, for instance, but these days, these uber-models are as far off each other's high-heeled tracks as Heaven and Earth.
Miss Banks is a model-mogul now, building a media empire of epic proportions not since Ellen meets Oprah. With a multi-million dollar movie-production contact with Warner Pictures, executive producer of America's Next Top Model (and all its international spin-offs) and her hotter -than-hot talk show, Tyra is so influential these days.
'What Tyra wants, Tyra gets.'
On the other hand,
Miss Campbell is doing none the better. She's still one of the premier models out there, working the runway like only she can. But she hasn't diversified.
No matter the strut-queen that she is, it's still a fact that as she pushes the big 4-0, she faces massive competition from fresher faces in an industry obsessed with youth and its vibrance.
Doesn't help if you're forever in the news for handphone projectiles (she could win Gold if it were to be included in this year's Olympics; just sayin.). Or if you've got someone else beaten up yet again. And hand cuffed . And could be walking out of jail wearing yet another D & G outfit.
While Tyra is busy telling women all over the world how to be positive role models to their families and societies, Naomi only exempifies the 'Beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside' age-old notion; the party-sex-and-drugs rockstar lifestyle. Indeed, they were so similar then. Yet are totally different today.
Q
