Theresa May a great role model, says Vogue editor
THE editor-in-chief of British Vogue has praised Prime Minister Theresa May for being a “fantastic role model” for younger women.
Alexandra Shulman, who is at the helm of the glossy magazine considered the “Bible” of the sartorial world, said it is important to encourage young women “not to just want to be models, or singers, or reality TV stars”.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Ms Shulman said: “It’s so important that we show, particularly a younger generation, that you can be powerful, that you can work in industries outside that celebrity and glamour, but also be interested in your nails, your eyelashes, your clothes, your hair.
“Because if we don’t how can we encourage our young women not to just want to be models, or singers, or reality TV stars, so women like Theresa May, who is not ashamed to actually show that she enjoys her clothes, and dressing, and make-up, are fantastic role models in this way.”
Mrs May’s choice of footwear has been a talking-point since she took up permanent residence at Number 10 in July.
The PM said recently that the nation’s obsession with her shoes gives her an excuse to buy more.
Asked at the beginning of the week by Good Morning Britain if the focus on her shoes was sexist, Mrs May replied: “It is interesting people focus on my shoes.
“I don’t think they focus on Philip Hammond’s or Boris Johnson’s in quite the same way. Do I regret the fact that people look at my shoes? Hey, it gives me an excuse to go and buy new shoes.”
Ms Shulman also spoke on ITV’s breakfast show about the magazine’s November issue.
In a British Vogue first, the magazine will feature “real” women instead of models on its fashion pages, and they will also take centre stage in a range of editorial features.
Explaining the decision in her editor’s letter, Ms Shulman says the idea came about after a struggle to obtain designer clothes for people who are not models for a shoot.
She said: “I thought it would be interesting for us to put together an issue of the magazine where none of the fashion is shot on models and where we are looking in various ways at the subject of what we wear through a more ‘real’ filter.”