Naomi Campbell

The incredibly beautiful, hot-tempered top model with a keen business sense has just been awarded "best model" by the Elle Style Awards in London. With her blunt cut and statuesque body wrapped in an Alaïa, she did not look like she has been in the business for over 20 years.

For the first time, Campbell is making positive headlines. She received the Elle Style Award, is slated to appear in the popular TV series, Ugly Betty, and has another U.S. series in the making. Could this be the comeback for the former top model recently condemned for having assaulted her assistant?

Looking back on Campbell's atypical career path... She was part of the famous supermodels of the 1980s, with Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford. She took art classes in London before becoming the most admired black model.

She quickly made an impression in the business with her Chinese-Jamaican beauty. She began by appearing in the Bob Marley "Is This Love" video in 1978, and her first magazine cover for Elle in 1986 when she was only 16.

She made headlines when Vogue and Time magazines made her the first black model to appear on their covers. Whereas the majority of models have short careers, Campbell has managed to remain center-stage.

She continues to walk even after turning 30 and still excites the press and the designers. She poses for the biggest photographers, e.g., Steven Meisel, Herb Ritts, and Peter Lindbergh, and walks for the biggest designers, e.g., Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and even Louis Vuitton.

She is also very active in humanitarian projects but sometimes finds herself in less positive situations. Her album, for example, and the films in which she has appeared have not been successful, not to mention the numerous appearances in the press for her violent temper. She appeared in front of the judge on February 16 where she pleaded guilty to the charges of hitting her assistant with her cell phone on the back of the head during an argument.

The assistant was injured and required 4 stitches. Campbell was sentenced to 5 days of community service, and was also required to attend an anger management workshop and pay a fine of $363.32.

Now that this is behind her, Ms Campbell can dedicate herself to real projects and try to re-launch her career, which is what she is trying to do with Ugly Betty. She will appear soon in the series, which will allow her to change her image and find a new direction for her career through acting.

In the series, Campbell explains that her character is very similar to herself: a woman who loves shopping and is incapable of finding a man. Campbell herself has problems in this area, between Usher and many others. The promise of a recurring role in the series CSI could confirm her career transition and grant her the title of "actress."

Campbell is not one to mince her words when asked about anorexia in the modeling business. She claims to be scandalized by the trend towards increasingly thinner girls, but for her, fashion is not responsible for the "size zero" scandal.

"I don't believe in size zero. I am the size I am, I don't diet. Fashion is healthy, girls have healthy things to eat backstage. You can't blame the industry for a psychological disease. It is a disease, like alcohol or drugs, and the industry is not to blame."

The trials and tribulations of a former top model who is still on top?