Enninful calls in 40 favours for all-star cover

EDWARD ENNINFUL has assembled 40 “legendary women” for his farewell British Vogue cover.

Supermodels and stars from the worlds of film, television, fashion and sport gathered in New York for the “once in a lifetime” shoot with photographer Steven Meisel.

It is the largest number of women ever shot together for a Vogue cover.

All have previously featured on the front of the magazine during Enninful’s six-year tenure.

Oprah Winfrey sits at the heart of the picture, which includes Serena Williams, Jane Fonda and Victoria Beckham.

There are two model mother-and-daughter pairings: Kate and Lila Moss, and Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber.

Crawford is joined by fellow supermodels Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Amber Valletta and Naomi Campbell, while Adut Akech, Vittoria Ceretti and Anok Yai represent the new generation.

British talent includes the actresses Jodie Comer and Gugu Mbatha-raw, singer Dua Lipa and presenter Maya Jama. Model Adwoa Aboah, who graced Enninful’s first cover in December 2017, is there, as is Laverne Cox, the first transgender person to front an issue.

Other faces include singer and actress Cynthia Erivo, actress and disability campaigner Selma Blair, models Iman and Karen Elson, Cara Delevigne and Miley Cyrus. Enninful said: “So here it is: my 76th and final edition of Vogue, six-and-a-half years and 153 cover stars later, including the 40 legendary women who feature on this cover. It’s been an extraordinary ride and an absolute honour.”

He added: “As I step into my new role, as Conde Nast’s global creative and cultural adviser for Vogue, I’m determined to keep championing the incredible array of voices in fashion and media, and ensure we keep the energy explosion of the last few years going.

“We always say it, because it always needs to be said: there is a great deal yet to be done.”

Campbell, who counts Enninful as one of her closest friends, said that his “honest persuasion brought together 40 of the world’s most influential women” for the “breathtaking” farewell cover shoot.

In his editor’s letter, Enninful explained why he had chosen a group shot for his final cover.

He wrote: “It was clear to all of us on the team that no one woman could or should encapsulate these past few years for the magazine. What we needed was a group, to lean into the power of the collective to bring to life what I hope has been a daring, disruptive and evolutionary period in Vogue’s history.

“They also – by dint of extraordinary impact, force of personality, style and influence – needed to have reached beyond fashion and culture to change the fabric of society in the 2020s, in ways small and large and always positive.”

Describing the logistics of the shoot, Enninful wrote: “I held my breath for weeks. Would 40 of the most booked and blessed women on earth actually make it to one studio in New York, on one day in December, to take one image together?

“Spoiler alert: they came. From London, New York, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles and beyond, they materialised as if from a dream.”

See the full feature in the March issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Feb 13.