Racism means I stillcan’thailacab, says Vogue boss
HE’S one of the biggest names in the fashion world, but British Vogue editor-in- chief Edward Enninful has claimed he can’t hail a cab because taxi drivers won’t stop for him due to his skin colour.
Enninful, whose famous friends include Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, says he still has to ask his aide, who is not black, to flag one down for him. ‘My assistant still has to hail a taxi — despite the position that I’m in,’ says Enninful, 50, who was born in Ghana.
A security guard at Enninful’s Mayfair offices was sacked in 2020 after refusing him entry to Vogue House.
To add insult to injury, the guard told him to use the tradesmen’s entrance at the rear of the building. ‘I’m a black man in the world; it wasn’t the first time it happened and it’s not going to be the last time,’ Enninful now says.
‘When those incidents happened, it made me realise: do not forget who you are, do not forget where you’re from and do not think you’re so amazing these things won’t touch you.’ Enninful was speaking at the BFI Southbank in London to promote his memoir, A Visible Man, followed by a party at Claridge’s.
It was speculated that the Duchess of Sussex might attend, but she was notable by her absence. Meghan guest-edited Vogue’s bumper September 2019 issue.
Enninful’s arrival prompted a mass exodus of staff, including deputy editor Emily Sheffield, a baronet’s daughter and David Cameron’s sister-in-law, who lost out on the top job. After the former stylist succeeded Alexandra Shulman in 2017, he reportedly said his priority was to ‘get rid of the posh girls’.
He now says of Shulman: ‘ She represented a different time. In 25 years there had only been 12 models of colour on the front cover. I just thought: “Let me bring in a new world, let’s create a magazine that was inclusive and everybody could see themselves in.” ’