Prada model Malaika Firth: 'To be compared to Naomi Campbell is WOW!' British girl tipped as the next big thing in fashion

Kenyan-born Malaika Firth stars in new campaign
She is first black face of Prada since Naomi Campbell in 1994
Says it is an amazing achievement
Jourdan Dunn and Joan Smalls are her inspirations

PUBLISHED: 16:20, 10 July 2013 | UPDATED: 16:20, 10 July 2013

She is the first black model to be cast by Prada since Naomi Campbell in 1994.

And now, Malaika Firth, a Kenyan-born, UK-raised model, has even been hailed as the next Naomi.

The 19-year-old is one of seven models in the new Prada autumn/winter ad campaign, starring alongside industry heavyweight Christy Turlington and Chinese model Fei Fei Sun.

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Milestone: Kenyan-born Malaika Firth features in Prada's new ad campaign

Prada rarely hires Asian and black models so Malaika's inclusion in the campaign is something of a milestone, which the model herself describes as 'amazing'.

Malaika, who is on Premier Model Management's books and has been modelling since 2011, told WWD that she first saw her Prada campaign when she was in IKEA.

She said: 'I was buying a sofa and I heard my phone ring. My agency was like, “The pictures are out.” I was so excited. I screamed in IKEA. I couldn’t help it.

'Naomi Campbell is so big, so for me to be compared with her is wow.'

New face: 19-year-old Malaika has been tipped to be the next Naomi Campbell, which she says is amazing

Malaika first decided to get into modelling after watching Channel 4's The Model Agency. Her mother then called up Premier when she was just 17 and began taking her for castings.

She cites Jourdan Dunn and Joan Smalls as her inspirations and says she worked very hard to get where she is right now.

Twitter has been extremely excited about her appearance in the Prada campaign.

One user wrote: 'What took so long? “@GlobalGrindStyl: Prada breaks two decade hiatus by casting a black model in ad campaign.'

Scouted: Malaika first decided to get into modelling after watching Channel 4's The Model Agency and has since become the second black model after Naomi (R) to star in Prada's campaign

Another added: 'Prada wakes up, casts black model for first time in 19 years.'

Jenna Sauers, a writer from Jezebel.com, wrote: 'As we've documented repeatedly on this website, the fashion industry as a whole has a number of problems with race - whether it's the under-representation of models of color on the world's biggest runways, or the spate of ignorant but widely copied trends, like blackface references in editorials.

'Perhaps no single brand has embodied near-total whiteness more than Prada. What made the company finally hire a black model for its seasonal ad campaign? Prada isn't saying. Let's hope it won't be 19 years before we see another.'