Editor’s Note: CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour interviewed Edward Enninful in London on Monday, August 3.
Edward Enninful hit headlines when he became editor-in-chief of British Vogue more than two years ago, making him the first Black person at the helm of the magazine. Since then he has become a recognizable face in fashion and beyond, leading the way towards a more diverse magazine and team of people behind it. But his fame did not help him avoid being racially profiled at Condé Nast’s London offices in early July.
“As a black man it’s not the first time I’ve been profiled, and it certainly won’t be the last,” Enninful said, telling CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about the incident in which a security guard told him he had to access the building via the loading bay. “It wasn’t an isolated incident,” he continued, adding, “had I been younger I would have been so upset. I wouldn’t be able to say anything, but now I can talk about it. I’ve got the platform to speak about it and I don’t want this to happen to the next generation.”
Born in Ghana and raised in multicultural west London, 48-year-old Enninful is one of a few people of color in the fashion press to hold the role of editor-in-chief (Lindsay Peoples Wagner helms Teen Vogue). And while there has never been any shortage of criticism directed at magazines and fashion brands for favoring depictions of white beauty, Enninful finds himself overseeing the magazine at a time of unprecedented demands for change – not to mention some industry firsts, including the appointment of Samira Nasr as the first woman of color at the head of Harper’s Bazaar.
But Enninful, who invited Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to be the guest editor of last year’s September issue, says that diversity has been his focus from the start.
“From early on in my career I’ve always been about inclusivity and focusing on people you can label as the ‘other’, people who have been othered,” he told Amanpour in the televised interview. According to Enninful, his ambition has been to make Vogue a welcoming place, and a place “for women of all shapes, sizes, ages, colors to look and see themselves reflected.”
He also wants Vogue to act as a mirror to society more generally. “I think what’s happening now in the world is a great thing because people are talking about subjects that they never did before. Hard subjects… racism, unemployment, climate change,” he said. “Every month we try to reflect what we see in the world out there.”
For this September issue, the magazine’s theme is “Activism Now” and includes cover stars Marcus Rashford, a footballer and campaigner against child poverty; and Adwoa Aboah, a model and activist; as well as 40 other advocates for social causes. The cover was shot by Misan Harriman, the first black photographer to do so in the magazine’s 104-year history.
Enninful said that real change away from systemic racism isn’t just about faces on magazine covers. It will require diversity across the board for the current upsurge in activism to keep hold in the long term.
“We need education, we need people behind the scenes so that we can get a seat at the table,” he said. “We need bursaries for people, we need to find different ways of recruitment. For this to last, people need to be behind the scenes. It’s imperative.”
He added that not only should fashion confront racism, but climate change as well, acknowledging that the industry-wide slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic had “made all of us think and take a deep breath.” He said there are currently “too many seasons, too many shows” and “so much waste,” and that it was time to reset “not just the environment, but also our minds, our perspectives.”
Hotly tipped to take over for Anna Wintour as editor-in-chief at American Vogue, if she were to step down, when asked by Amanpour whether he would “answer the call,” Enninful said “I mean it would be rude not to answer anyone’s call, but I’m very happy where I am.”
The September issue of Vogue will be available on August 7.
