Rita Ora’s ‘Straight and Shiny’ New Hair Was Inspired by Naomi Campbell

From “cherry mocha” manis to early-aughts lip looks, one of the coolest things about beauty is that inspiration can come from anywhere. Even so, the best place to source ideas will always be the icons. On Tuesday, October 18, Rita Ora proved she knows exactly who to take cues from when she revealed a new hairstyle inspired by the one and only Naomi Campbell.

“I want the Naomi hair! Straight and shiny!” the “Don’t Think Twice” singer captioned a video on her Instagram Story, tagging the model and her hairstylist, Rio Sreedharan. In the video itself, she directed the hairdresser to “do whatever Naomi does,” bopping along to “Naomi Campbell” by Innoss’B as Sreedharan did touch-ups.

“I want Naomi Campbell! My-omi Campbell,” Ora declared. “Inspired by you.” Sreedharan, who works with Campbell often, absolutely delivered, giving the 32-year-old’s blonde locks the sleekest, Naomi-esque texture. Middle-parted, waist-length, and pin-straight, Ora and the hairstylist couldn’t help but run their hands through.

“It’s giving, honey!” Ora shouted at the end of the clip. Because her hair is naturally curly, it was fun to see Ora give a new texture a spin. She complimented the ‘do with a very non-Naomi (unless we’re talking Met Gala 2022) eye look, her upper and lower lash line and brow bone rimmed with rhinestones.

Still, somehow, the hair stole the show. (I suppose having it done by the inspiration’s actual hairdresser didn’t hurt.) Apparently, Ora is a longtime fan of the iconic supermodel. In 2014, she noted that Campbell stepped into a big sister role for her at Milan Fashion Week.

“Yeah, me and Naomi Campbell are like best friends ... No, I'm joking. She's so cute. She was looking after me at the [Philipp Plein] show,” Ora said in Paper Magazine’s April 2014 issue, sharing that she’d felt self-conscious around the models. “She gave me a pep talk and walked me in. Then we ended up having drinks by the bar and she was being really cool.''