Edward Enninful’s Last Hoorah
With Edward Enninful’s final cover of British Vogue releasing this month, it's only right to look at the impact he has made on the historic publication and the fashion industry. Edward Enninful OBE, a Ghanaian born Brit, first became appointed editor in chief of British Vogue in August of 2017. As the first Black person to hold the position, the pressure was on before he stepped foot in the infamous Vogue House in London. However, employing his experience learning the craft from Simon Foxton & Nick Knight at i-d, Franca Sozanni at Italian Vogue, Stefano Tochi at W, & Anna Wintour at American Vogue; he was well prepared with the skills and confidence to lead the future of what fashion is defined as through a larger lens.
Enninful prioritized using fashion as a form of storytelling to celebrate people’s differences & diversities. “This is what diversity can look like, there were all these clichés that you can’t have Black women on the cover; you can’t have brown women on the cover. The industry seems to have discarded that notion.” Enninful took pride in allowing women of color to see themselves in the luxury fashion space as a normality rather than an insanity. From race, ethnicity, age, size, religion, gender identity, and ability; Enninful created room at the table for what the modern-day woman looks like by representing change in his work. Inspiring feeling and looking fabulous wasn’t bound by barriers of historic standards. During his lecture at The Oxford Union in 2018, he said: “Fashion really succeeds when it tackles the world we live in”. Enninful never shied away from embracing topics that people cared about, evident in published stories like ‘The New Frontline' showcasing 3 essential workers on the July 2020 cover, Nobel peace prize Laurent and activist Malala Yousafzai for the July 2021 cover, Timothée Chalamet as the first male solo cover star for British Vogue for the October 2022 issue, April 2023’s ‘The New Supers’ cover with Paloma Elsesser, Jill Kortleve, & Precious Lee showcasing the success & future potentials of curvy models in luxury fashion; & many more.
The inimitable topics and style of these stories set Enninful’s work at British Vogue apart from other publications. But don’t just take my word for it: According to the Business of Fashion, “Digital traffic at the title grew by 7.8 percent in 2018 to 14.8 million monthly unique users, while print circulation has increased 1.1 percent since 2017”. Clearly, Enninful was doing something right, presenting news that all demographics wanted to be a part of. In 2016, Enninful was honored with receiving an OBE, Order of the British Empire, for his services to diversity in the fashion industry and was later honored again in 2018 when he was awarded the Media Award from the CFDA in recognition of his extensive dedication and contributions to the fashion industry.
Enninful’s March Vogue Magazine Issue and final cover is on stands now, presenting 40 phenomenal women that have previously worked with him during his tenure at British Vogue.” I’m just so honored that all these women saw what we did at British Vogue and stood behind it,” Enninful said. “When I look at the cover, I think what a great run it’s been. I said what I wanted to say.”
We thank Enninful for being a daring voice with an exceptional eye that has found a way to use fashion to help change the world. In his final letter as editor in chief he reflects on “what has been a joyful, profound, and invigorating chapter for my wonderful team and I”. We look forward to the next chapter of inspiration & wish him all the best in his future endeavors.