New Vogue boss: Idea that ethnic doesn’t sell is a myth

THE new editor of British Vogue says the fashion industry is now “much more aware” when it comes to diversity, adding the “the idea of ethnic not selling is a myth”.

Edward Enninful will be the first black and gay editor of the fashion bible when he officially takes over next month. He is replacing Alexandra Shulman, who announced she was quitting in January after more than two decades.

He is styling the 2018 Pirelli calendar, which will feature an entirely black cast of stars from television, film, fashion and music. They include Oscar-winners Lupita Nyong’o and Whoopi Goldberg, model Naomi Campbell and rapper Sean “P.Diddy” Combs .

Enninful, 45, pictured, currently style director at W Magazine, told The Times the impressive line-up showed how far his industry had come. On the roll call, he said: “I was floored. For a long time, I was the only black editor [at Fashion Week]. We just didn’t have these conversations back then. We’re so much more aware now. Diversity today isn’t just black or white, it’s religion, body image, people who feel outside the norm.”

Enninful said doing the calendar “was always on my bucket list — it felt like making a blockbuster movie. The sheer magnitude of the sets, the talent — I’ve been around but this was one of the biggest productions I’ve done. I kept thinking, ‘OK now I see why Pirelli is so special.’”

Enninful, who received an OBE last year, said he wanted to use his position for “the good of others”. The stylist, a contributing fashion editor to Italian Vogue since 1998 and to American Vogue since 2005, said: “I’m not a political person. But I do believe we can make the world a better place. For me, a fashion story works best when it says something about the times we live in.

Until Jourdan Dunn in February 2015, British Vogue had not featured a solo black model on its cover since Naomi Campbell in 2002.

Asked if that would change under his tenure, Enninful said: “The idea of ethnic not selling is a myth. The answer is behind the scenes: more black editors, black writers, interns to be able to project and push things along.”