Vogue have appointed their first male editor in chief, as well as Britain’s first black male editor of a major style magazine, Edward Enninful. These headlines are now everywhere. Of course, it’s great to see such a progressive piece of news; but Edward Enninful has only been hired for his incredible talent, and that’s what we ought not to miss.
The Ghanaian moved to London at the age of sixteen and was quickly scouted for modeling. Eventually he became involved with iD, and found himself as the magazine’s fashion director. Their rise to success was rapid and so was the start of his career.
Since these not so humble beginnings he’s been everywhere as both model and stylist and boasts an incredible editorial portfolio, including contributions to both Italy’s and the US’ Vogue, and he was most recently W magazine’s creative and style director. The man has even bagged an OBE; Queenie knows her stuff.
It’s an exciting time for the fashion world – the man has numerous connections and is loved by everyone. Personal friends Marc Jacob and Naomi Campbell have both congratulated 45-year-old Enninful on his new role amongst a host of others.
Obviously, as one of the few male style correspondents Impact has, and a bit of a photography nerd, this is some of the best news I have ever heard. For equality reasons alone, skimming over the fact that he has always championed the younger generation and helped find them a voice in the industry, and his wonderfully emotive use of photography and direction, I almost cried. However, the excitement and talent of Enninful goes far beyond the masses of promotion for across-the-board equality within the fashion industry.
Enninful is by nature a stylist. He’s an unrivaled and almost impossibly precise editor also, but he’s ultimately a man of concept before content and that’s going to breathe incredible life into the magazine. I hope, and think, we can expect Enninful to bring a boldness and sense of activism to his work when he takes over on August 1st – not to mention some groundbreaking and diversifying directions to one of the most influential fashion publications on the planet.
He is a man who champions opportunity and diversity, and never at the risk of jeopardizing any content. He is a magpie who uses the beauty and influence of anything anywhere to produce some of the best fashion articles and campaigns that have ever existed.
An exciting example of his work for Vogue was his heavy involvement in the ‘black models only’ edition for Vogue Italy back in 2008. This kind of innovation is only likely to continue, and relations with major fashion brands is also going to ensure more friendly and collaborative content between brands and Vogue than ever before.
And if we’re sticking with the record (and why on Earth wouldn’t we) who can even imagine what a black male will do to a (historically) white women’s magazine? He is notorious for bringing a real sense of purpose to the publication he works for, and if the fashion world was ever getting a shakedown, where better to stick it than Condé Nast’s British Vogue!
A revolution is coming, the barriers are falling, and we are all seriously excited to get reading.
Rhys Thomas
Image Credit: N i c o l a via Flickr – License.
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