The Devil wears trousers
Meet the new (male) editor of Vogue
At first glance, the appointment of Edward Enninful as the editor in chief of British Vogue seems radical. And it is. As the first man to edit the magazine in its 100-year history, it’s a progressive appointment from a publisher, Condé Nast, not generally known for its cutting-edge nominations – after all, its stable also includes Tatler, the society title founded in 1709.
And yet, Enninful – a 45-year-old Ghanian-born, London-raised stylist – ticks some pretty impressive establishment boxes. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at the British Fashion Awards. Last year, he was appointed an OBE for services to diversity in fashion. Naomi Campbell – who, along with Kate Moss, he’s been best friends with since they were teenagers – accompanied him to Buckingham Palace to collect his honour. “We connect on so many different levels,” says Campbell. “When I first met him, it was just like meeting family.”
Later that evening, Enninful hosted a party at Mark Birley’s private members’ club in Mayfair, where the cream of the fashion industry turned up to celebrate with him – including Moss, Madonna and Erin O’Connor. He’s a serious, respected player at the epicentre of the fashion world, and counts Donatella Versace, Marc Jacobs, Iman and Rihanna among his friends. And, like the majority of current Vogue staffers, he has a west London pedigree, albeit Ladbroke Grove, rather than the more gentrified side of the tracks.
Inside the British Vogue office yesterday morning, there was relief that, after months of speculation about who their new boss would be, an announcement had finally been made. The fashion gossip mills have been churning ever since Alexandra Shulman announced her “Vrexit” in January, after a successful 25-year tenure. Numerous glossy-maned candidates were on the table, from deputy editor (and sister of Samantha Cameron) Emily Sheffield to the current Tatler editor, Kate Reardon. Enninful had also been mooted, and so, despite the secrecy, Vogue staffers were not entirely surprised by his appointment. Now, however, they may be wondering what changes he will bring to the title. When Shulman took up the reins in 1992, she came with a journalistic background (even her parents were writers) and a sharp eye for features. Enninful comes from across the magazine divide, with a career in styling rather than writing. His rise through the industry, however, is nothing short of remarkable. Born in Ghana, he moved to London with his parents when he was a child. Although his mother was a seamstress, he had little knowledge of the fashion world until he was lightening-bolted into Cont
it at the age of 16. On the Tube one day he was scouted by stylist Simon Foxton, who worked for cult magazines i-D and Arena. Speaking to the Telegraph last year, to mark his 25th anniversary in the industry, Enninful explained: “I was really sheltered growing up, with six brothers and sisters. We played together all the time and I was living in a fantasy world, like most creative people. My mother was a seamstress so I always grew up with her making clothes. I knew how to construct outfits, I knew how to sketch, I knew how to customise. But I could never imagine it as a career.”
Within a short time, he landed his first taste of fashion as an assistant to photographer Nick Knight. He then began working for Foxton, and a job at i-D soon followed. At just 18, he abandoned an art degree at Goldsmiths to become fashion director at the title, a position he retained for 20 years.
Enninful started at the magazine in 1991, when it was moving away from the glossy imagery of the previous decade and taking a central role in progressive, grungier fashion. The chance to do something raw and real – such as dressing a smiling Naomi Campbell in a down-to-earth track top, a world away from Eighties power dressing – suited Enninful.
“I can’t just go in and throw clothes at a picture,” he has said. “I still have to have some kind of an idea of a character, of who she is, where she’s from. It’s almost like playing a child’s game. You have your dolls and you create characters for them. Fashion indulged that in me.”
Between Enninful and Shulman, there are some remarkable moments of overlap. While she was commissioning Corinne Day’s gritty portraits of Kate Moss for her first
Vogue cover in 1993, Enninful was also working with the duo. Both editors helped shape Moss’s career, and it is unlikely that her appearances in the magazine – Shulman booked her for more than 30 covers – will diminish now that one of her oldest friends is at the helm.
Equally, Shulman and her successor have both been outspoken about the industry’s failings. She has been particularly vocal about the size of models, while Enninful has criticised its woeful attitude to diversity. In 2008, he was instrumental in Italian Vogue’s black issue, for which he styled Naomi Campbell – 40,000 extra copies had to be printed to meet demand.
“I acknowledge the fact that I’ve been luckier than most, being spotted at 16, a black kid from Ladbroke Grove, not wealthy, from that class. But we need more diversity, from schools to internships to mentorships. That’s what I try to do. It’s very easy to say: ‘Oh, there’s one black model in a show and one black or Asian model in an advertising photograph, so we’ve filled the quota.’ No – it should be a continuous conversation. It shouldn’t even be an issue as far as I’m concerned. Beauty is beauty.”
His current role as creative and fashion director at the New York-based
W magazine (also part of the Condé Nast stable) has enabled him to create thought-provoking visual stories that extend beyond the pages of a mere magazine. He has also been credited with increasing advertising revenue at
W, something that will not have escaped his bosses.
Magazine editors these days oversee far more than the print edition: with
Vogue, there is the website, social media channels and video, as well as events such as the annual Vogue Festival. Enninful has a keen grasp on the new media age, and how to use it to his advantage – he has nearly half a million followers on Instagram. He recently assembled 81 fashion insiders – including Diane von Furstenberg and Grace Coddington – to feature in I
Am An Immigrant, his video project for W, devised as a positive reaction to Donald Trump’s immigration policy. He commented on his Instagram that “a variety of perspectives, and not just a singular view, makes this a more compelling world”.
Enninful will bring an attentiongrabbing perspective to a century-old magazine when he takes up his role in August. He has the charm, and the command of the industry, to attract a roster of impressive collaborators and faces. If he can also encourage a shift in the industry’s narrow attitude towards women, then all the better.
He may not have been the most obvious choice for the greatest job in fashion journalism, but he might just be the jolt that the fashion world needs.