British Vogue Is Celebrating African Models On Their February Cover But Not Everyone Is Happy

By
Emily Cottontop
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British Vogue is celebrating African Models on Their February cover and if we were to be very honest, we thought the pictures were gorgeous!

9 gorgeous women were featured according to the editorial.

Read below via British Vogue:

“nine striking Black models – their facial features varied and distinct – await hair and make-up.

They are playfully conversing; I note snippets of Dinka and hints of other mother tongues peppering the conversation.

They’re laughing and teasing one another while moving and mouthing the lyrics to Wizkid’s “Don’t Dull”, “Ojuelegba”, “Essence” and pretty much the entire tracklist of Made in Lagos.

These women are a wholly different type of model and are currently pushing the boundaries not only of beauty but of the entire fashion world.

“I saw all these incredible models from across Africa who were just so vivacious and smart,” recalls Edward Enninful, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief and European editorial director, explaining the inspiration behind shooting an all Black, all African cover.

His excitement for this moment is tangible: “These girls,” he continues, “are redefining what it is to be a fashion model.” This, he asserts, is well overdue. “You know, fashion tends to follow waves.

We’ve had the Brazilian wave.

We had the Dutch wave, the Russian wave, the Eastern European wave… And while, in the last decade, the Black model has come to prominence, I love that we are finally giving more space to African beauty.”

Unlike the trends that have gone before, which favored a certain aesthetic – the perpetually sun-kissed Amazonian curves of the Brazilians, the strong jawlines of the Eastern Europeans – this African wave taps into a variety of aesthetics from across that vast continent.

Check out the pictures:

As beautiful as these pictures are, the critics were out in full force.

In our opinion, this is a monumental moment for these women, but others have been dissecting the pictures with a myriad of negative opinions.

One commenter made the point that they should have featured the women with their natural hair:

another said:
‘British Vogue? So…they gathered all of these beautiful women and decided not to use lighting properly? One can’t even identify who is who! And the wigs? Those women have very beautiful fascinating dark skins, so why DARKEN them like that?’

Another accused the Brazillian photographer Raphael Pavarotti of catering to the “white gaze” by “fetishising” the models.

saying:’ You can be unapologetically black without caricature.’

and then there was this one:

and

Another critic said: ‘Edward Enninful was foul for that Vogue cover. That lighting, wigs, outfits, errything was anti-black.

‘I don’t care, I don’t care. You took the most beautiful women on the planet and made sure we couldn’t see them on an issue about visibility? @BritishVogue, shaking my head.’

Even though there were a ton of negative comments, the positive ones celebrated the women, and how gorgeous they looked.

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What is your opinion, do you agree with the critics, or do you love the cover?

Comment below!

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1 COMMENT

  1. This is unfortunate. These are amazing photos and their skin is beautiful (with the exception of the small head, wide shoulder demon prop). At first glance my first thoughts were suspicious of their skin but there was an awe factor that dissolved that. But once you’re aware of the truth it is insulting that Black and beautiful must be portrayed in an exaggerated, minstrel light.
    The unfortunate part is most will take the “we can’t when for losing” stance as an excuse not to celebrate black as beautiful, missing the true beauty of just being black. Photograph that and there is no loss.

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