Hun, babes, angel — we all have terms of endearment for our friends. But the internet is baffled by Naomi Campbell’s nickname for Kate Moss: ‘Little wagon’.
Praising Kate after she gave her testimony in the Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard trial this week, Naomi posted a story to her Instagram saying: ‘YES WAGON TELL IT!!’ alongside heart and fire emojis.
Obviously, a wagon in the traditional sense is a wooden carriage used to carry goods around. But something tells us that Naomi isn’t calling Kate a cart… so, what’s going on?
Why does Naomi Campbell call Kate Moss ‘wagon’?
Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell have been friends for decades after meeting in Los Angeles in the 90s where they both rose through the ranks to become two of the most successful models in the world. ‘I knew she was special from the first minute I saw her,’ Naomi previously wrote of Kate in the Evening Standard{
In the 90s, Naomi was engaged to the U2 musician Adam Clayton, and she and Kate often visited Ireland, where Bono’s wife (Ali Hewson) dubbed them ‘the wagons’ after meeting them.
‘Kate was little wagon, Christy [Turlington] was the original wagon and I was black wagon,’ Naomi told The Sunday Times's Krissi Murison in 2016, who questioned her whether they were called ‘wagon[s]’ because they were ‘permanently falling off them’ in reference to their struggles with alcohol.
'We’re wagons because we’re naughty, we enjoy our life, we laugh, just girls having fun.'
‘No! It’s because… we’re wagons,’ Naomi replied. ‘Because we’re naughty, we enjoy our life, we laugh, just girls having fun.’ But, according to the slang bible Urban Dictionary, a ‘wagon’ in Ireland means ‘an obnoxious, aggressive woman’.
‘Hmm, someone should tell Naomi Campbell that being called a wagon in Ireland doesn't mean you “enjoy life”,’ wrote one user on Twitter. ‘Ali Hewson is a formidable woman but I'm not sure she correctly explained “wagon” to Naomi and Kate,’ added another.
Yet, the muddled definition of ‘wagon’ hasn’t stopped Naomi using the nickname with abandon. In the words of the model herself: ‘#wagonforlife’.