British Vogue has come under fire from readers over its latest cover featuring Aussie actresses Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman.
Last year, Edward Enninful took the reins as editor-in-chief following Alexandra Shulman’s 25-year period at the helm of the fashion bible.
Enninful – the first black, male and openly gay editor of the magazine – was in charge of his first cover in Vogue’s December issue which featured model and activist Adwoa Aboah.
On Wednesday afternoon, the magazine announced its third ‘Hollywood special February issue’ on Instagram.
The cover features Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie, alongside a list of mostly white names – except the inclusion of Gal Gadot who is Israeli and Hong Chau who was born in Thailand – accompanied with the headline ‘Hollywood’s New Era’.
But it was something else on the front page, linked with that, which people pointed out – the statement: ‘Why we need to talk about race’.
So it seems people are questioning how diverse the ‘New Vogue era’ actually is.
Pippabug commented on Instragram: ‘The irony of this cover with the copy, Why we need to talk about race.’
One person wrote on Twitter:
The new issue of British Vogue…we started off so strong and now we’re back to white women and chiffon.
Seb Law wrote:
The cover defo leads the mag! It’s an easily-avoidable juxtaposition… I was really looking forward to Ed’s Vogue but this & the Taylor cover are…disappointing.
And well known fashion blogger, BryanBoy added:
Fashion will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever change! Ever! It’s the way the system was built: on white supremacy! Any resemblance of change is lip service, ‘quick hit fix’ to appease the public — ‘look at us, we’re part of the movement’ it’s tiresome really.
Speaking about the new issue, Enninful said in a press statement:
When I first decided that Vogue should put together a star-filled portfolio featuring the biggest names in current cinema to mark the exceptional 2017/18 awards season, who knew Hollywood would soon be top of the global news agenda. It was clear to me that the mood needed to change.
That it was a time for honesty. Enter photographer Juergen Teller, my long-time collaborator and the world’s most gifted documenter of celebrity at its most intimate and off-duty. Over four days in Los Angeles it was great to spend time with him and some of today’s amazing talents as they look to reshape how Hollywood does business in a post-Weinstein world, including cover stars Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman – two of the most straight-talking professionals I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.
Hoping this was on oversight, and knowing Enninful and his hopes for a ‘New Era’ of Vogue, it probably was…
