Beginning her career at the age of 8, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was the first black woman to appear as a model on the covers of Time and Vogue France. In addition to her modelling career, Campbell has embarked on other ventures, including an R&B studio album and several acting appearances in film and television. She hosted the modelling-competition reality show The Face and its international offshoots. Campbell is also involved in charity work for various causes.

Despite her status as the most famous black model of her time, Campbell never earned the same volume of advertising assignments as her white colleagues, and she was not signed by a cosmetics company until as late as 1999. In 1991, she said, “I may be considered one of the top models in the world, but in no way do I make the same money as any of them.” Throughout her career, Campbell has been outspoken against the racial bias that exists in the fashion industry. In 1997, she stated, “There is prejudice. It is a problem and I can’t go along any more with brushing it under the carpet. This business is about selling, and blonde and blue-eyed girls are what sells.”

A decade later, she again spoke out against discrimination, stating, “The American president may be black, but as a black woman, I am still an exception in this business. I always have to work harder to be treated equally.” In 2013, Campbell joined fellow black models Iman and Bethann Hardison in an advocacy group called “Diversity Coalition”. In an open letter to the governing bodies of global fashion weeks, they named high-profile designers who used just one or no models of colour in their Autumn 2013 shows, calling it a “racist act”.

Campbell is involved with several charitable causes. She supports the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, for which she organised a benefit Versace fashion show in 1998. Held at Nelson Mandela’s South African presidential residence, the show was the subject of a documentary titled FashionKingdom, or alternatively, Naomi Conquers Africa. Campbell, whose mother has battled breast cancer, also supports Breakthrough Breast Cancer. In 2004, she was featured on FHM’s charity single Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?, as well as in the accompanying music video, of which all profits were donated to Breakthrough. She appeared in a print and media campaign for the charity’s fundraising initiative Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, and she opened a Breakthrough breast cancer research unit in 2009.