Imaan Hammam is proud as punch of her latest campaign shoot because of two career-shifting moments that underlined it. Number one: she learned how to yo-yo. Number two: she believes the Tiffany & Co photographs portray the model exactly as she is. No radical beauty look, no hair ’do teased into an unnatural style. “It was all about just me,” she tells Vogue.
This is testament, in part, down to the fact she has a solid, “organic” relationship with the jewellery behemoth, who she praises for its diverse model line-ups and wide-reaching net of artists, including A$AP Ferg, it invites to collaborate with. And the fact, she has seen the industry become more inclusive first hand.
Hammam joined Naomi Campbell, Doutzen Kroes and Dilone in Tiffany & Co’s Save the Wild collection campaign – which benefits Knot On My Planet, a project that rallies influencers to support the Elephant Crisis Fund – and is now back for spring/summer 2019 as part of an equally major line-up. Alongside Kendall Jenner, Carolyn Murphy, Mica Argañaraz and Fei Fei Sun, she shows the versatility of the Tiffany T collection and the enduring allure of that little blue box. Hammam, holding a ping-pong bat and wearing a zingy suit reminiscent of the tailoring she wears in the current issue of British Vogue is the bold, brilliant centre in the series.
“This campaign is really about individuality,” she reflects. “[It celebrates] who you are and what you stand for.” This carte blanche to be “totally me” has not always been the brief for the Dutch-born beauty, who was scouted at the age of 13 in Amsterdam Central Station. “I think the industry has changed,” she muses. “It makes me happy that people are accepting natural beauty and natural bodies now. You see a lot more people of colour modelling, but also designers and photographers. There’s more women, more youth – it’s just more diverse.”
Now in her twenties, and with campaigns for Celine, Coach and Maison Margiela, plus high-street brands H&M and Topshop, under her belt, Hammam makes sure she takes time to focus on her personal journey while her career trajectory rockets. “I’m really trying to find out what I stand for and what I want from life,” she says. “I look up to all women of colour, because they are all different, they are all strong, have a goal and stand for something.”
These moments come when listening to music, reading and painting. “Because I travel so much, I like to be at home and take time to reflect and appreciate what I have done,” she comments. And now, there’s always that new yo-yo hobby – “Tiffany had a champion teach me how to do tricks, it was so cool and I was so good!” – to zone out to.
