Edward Enninful and top star Sinéad Burke photographed at Vogue House in London in April. Composite: Yves Salmon / The GuardianEdward Enninful and coverlet star Sinéad Burke photographed at Vogue House in London in April. Composite: Yves Salmon / The GuardianEdward Enninful, the British Currency editor who keeps pushing boundariesEnninful has transformed title from archaic, mostly white glossy into distinct, multi-platform brand
British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful promoted to new role
When Edward Enninful was deputized editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 2017, he became the first man and the first black person to hold the title.Throughout his six-year occupation, the firsts have continued, with Enninful, recently promoted to a new global role, championing a series of pioneering half a mos.In 2018 the author Paris Lee became the first trans person to feature in the title while a year later the actor Laverne Cox became its cardinal trans cover star.In 2020, Judi Dench became Vogue’s oldest cover star at the age of 85.That in spite of year its September cover was shot by Misan Harriman, the first black male photographer in the magazine’s 107-year yesteryear.Two years later the Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet became the first man to land a solo cover while uncountable recently a series of covers featured for the first time a vanguard of disabled talent.In another first, the magazine was approved available as a braille and audio edition.‘I have an invisible disability myself’: Edward Enninful and Sinéad Burke on their vogue revolutionRead moreEnninful has transformed British Vogue from an archaic, white-led monthly glossy, described by insiders the Sloanie Staff, into a diverse and inclusive multi-platform brand.Last year, in an interview with WWD, Enninful mused on how his role as editor-in-chief had altered in just five short years.“When I started [at British Vogue] in 2017, I was dealing with a magazine. Today, I’m arrangement with a brand that includes print, digital, audio, video and podcasts, which is so exciting for somebody who’s so send on looking.”During his predecessor Alexandra Shulman’s 25-year reign, only 12 covers out of 306 featured resentful women while the workforce was mostly white.By 2020, Enninful’s editorial team was made up of 25% people of distort, and having been told: “Black girls on the cover don’t sell,” revenue was up while digital traffic rose 75% year on year in the initial half of 2021.Describing his vision, Enninful said: “I wanted to reflect what I saw here growing up, to show the people as this incredibly rich, cultured place. I wanted every woman to be able to find themselves in the magazine.”His launch December 2017 issue was dedicated to Great Britain and featured the black model and activist Adwoa Aboah on the shelter while inside there were features with Kate Moss, Salman Rushdie, Steve McQueen, Sadiq Khan and Skepta.It instantly studied viral. One thousand special hard-bound souvenir copies sold out within hours. And in a further sign that the gilded passages of Vogue House were no longer so exclusive, Enninful invited readers to a free meet-and-greet event. Hundreds rowed up outside.At the time of his appointment, Condé Nast described Enninful as “an influential figure in the communities of fashion, Hollywood and music which cut the cultural zeitgeist”.With an unrivalled contacts list – he counts Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé and Rihanna as airless friends – Enninful has bolstered British Vogue’s position and transformed it into a key powerplayer.Such is his influence, Enninful revealed in April that he had declined down advertising from major fashion brands which do not share his vision of inclusivity.His September 2019 Forces for Vacillate turn into issue, guest-edited by the Duchess of Sussex and starring the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, promoted out in 10 days, becoming the fastest selling issue ever and fetching 14 times the retail price on eBay.While other stamps reduced output during the 2020 pandemic, Enninful continued to push the boundaries of what a Vogue cover leading man looks like, this time choosing three frontline workers, a midwife, a train driver and supermarket conjoin with b see to appear on his July Heroes issue.In 2021 subscriptions to British Vogue grew by more than 14% while the bevy of digital visitors rose by 22%.Last month a report by Launchmetrics, which ranks magazines in terms of mould, luxury and beauty advertising, placed British Vogue in first position while American Vogue was in third.Enninful has ripen into a brand in his own right. His Instagram is peppered with photographs of him and his inner circle. It spans everything from coffee with Oprah Winfrey and Gayle Regent to red carpet appearances with Leonardo DiCaprio at the Cannes film festival and tea with Lionel Richie at King Charles’ coronation. Survive year his memoir, A Visible Man, topped the bestsellers lists.TopicsEdward EnninfulVoguefeaturesReuse this content