Supermodel Naomi Campbell won her legal appeal on Thursday against a five-year ban preventing her from serving as a charity trustee in England and Wales.
A three-person London tribunal ruled that Campbell, 56, was deceived by Bianka Hellmich, a fellow trustee and lawyer at Fashion For Relief. The First Tier Tribunal confirmed that while serious misconduct and financial mismanagement occurred at the poverty charity, the misuse of funds directly resulted from Hellmich’s actions and was concealed from the supermodel.
The ruling stems from a long-running controversy surrounding the philanthropic organisation Campbell established in 2005. Fashion For Relief initially gained prominence by staging high-profile runway shows to generate funds for humanitarian causes.
However, the Charity Commission, which regulates charitable organisations in England and Wales, launched a major investigation into the group’s operations. The regulatory body ultimately ruled that the charity was poorly governed and plagued by inadequate financial management.
Investigators discovered substantial unauthorised expenditure. Charity funds were inappropriately spent on luxury expenses including five-star hotel accommodation in Cannes, room service, spa treatments and cigarettes. Following these findings, the commission removed Fashion For Relief from its official register in 2024 and disqualified Campbell as a trustee shortly afterwards.
A victim of misplaced trust
During the appeal process, tribunal judges Helen Neville and James Armstrong-Holmes closely examined the internal dynamics of the charity’s leadership. They concluded that Hellmich deliberately hid the unauthorised payments and widespread financial failures from Campbell.
Reacting to the successful challenge, Campbell maintained that she was misled by a trusted professional rather than negligent in her duties.
«I don’t look at it as a failure, I look at it as me trusting someone that I knew, someone that was a lawyer,» Campbell said following the decision.
Thursday’s ruling officially overturns the 2024 disqualification. The decision legally clears one of fashion’s most recognisable figures of direct responsibility for the financial impropriety that dismantled her charity.
