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| BLACK IN FASHION: in a surprising turn to embrace diversity and recognize the influence of women of color as style arbiters, leading fashion publications around the globe are choosing black women to grace their most important cover of the year, the all-important September issue. |
The "SEPTEMBER ISSUE". Two words that translate into the impact of fashion on retail, beauty, and lifestyle commerce, all via the world of magazine publishing. In fashion and beauty media, September is the most highly anticipated month of the fashion calendar, in which a magazine's "September Issue" reigns supreme over all others; the September issue sets the tone for what's fashionable, marketable, and at the pulse of what's riveting in the world of style in the moment and in the coming year. An in a year unlike any other, September 2018 finds black models and entertainment figures as the domineering presence gracing the covers of the world's most influential fashion magazines, as the fashion industry moves to reflect as inclusive an aesthetic on its editorial magazine covers it has historically done for decades on the world's most celebrated designer catwalks.
Most notably leading the pack of
melanated cover girls for September 2018 fashion magazines is entertainer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. This year in a stunning move by Condè Nast artistic director and Vogue USA editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Knowles-Carter has been granted "unprecedented control" over portions of Vogue's USA's September edition, and is not only the first black woman to grace the cover of a September issue, but has also hired the first black photographer, Tyler Mitchell, to shoot a Vogue cover in the magazine's 126 history. In the accompanying article Knowles-Carter wrote for the September 2018 issue of Vogue, she reflects:
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Opening doors: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter for VOGUE USA, by Tyler Mitchell
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“When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell," Beyoncé wrote. "Clearly that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer.”
According to a
Nielsen 2017 study, black females are among the fashion media’s most loyal consumers, and despite how media has changed its landscape in the digital age, they remain dedicated fans of physical magazines. According to the study, Black female consumer preference could help “drive total spending power on media toward a record $1.5 trillion
(€ 1,3 trillion Euros) by 2021,” transforming the black female reading audience into one of influence that magazines realize are important to their survival. Similarly to fashion designers who have courted black female demographic for decades, the fashion media now understand it makes good business sense to appeal to black women and reflect their images on its covers. In her Vogue article, Beyoncé continued;
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| Guest editor: Beyoncé Carter-Knowles strips down to natural hair & makeup on the alternate September cover for VOGUE USA, by Tyler Mitchell |
“Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like..,”
“...If people in powerful positions continue to hire and cast only people who look like them, sound like them, come from the same neighborhoods they grew up in, they will never have a greater understanding of experiences different from their own,” the singer writes, “They will hire the same models, curate the same art, cast the same actors over and over again, and we will all lose. "
In addressing her role as both an influencer and sentry to power circles in pop culture & commerce, the 36-year-old mother of three shares what she hopes she can contribute to those worlds;
"It’s important to me that I help open doors for younger artists. There are so many cultural and societal barriers to entry that I like to do what I can to level the playing field, to present a different point of view for people who may feel like their voices don’t matter," she said. "Imagine if someone hadn’t given a chance to the brilliant women who came before me: Josephine Baker, Nina Simone, Eartha Kitt, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, and the list goes on. They opened the doors for me, and I pray that I’m doing all I can to open doors for the next generation of talents".
To check out some of the stunning covers featuring black models and artists for the fashion industry's most important issue of the year, just scroll through our curation of images below:
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| Rihanna for BRITTISH VOGUE, by Nick Knight |
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| Black Panther star and "Disney Princess" Letitia Wright for W MAGAZINE, by Alasdair McLellan |
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| "Blackish" actress/director Tracee Ellis Ross for ELLE CANADA, by Nino Munoz |
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| Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o for PORTER, by Mario Sorrenti |
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| Rapper Nicki Minaj for VOGUE ARABIA, by Emma Summerton |
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| Disney star Zendaya for MARIE CLAIRE, by Thomas Whiteside |
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| "How to Get Away With Murder" star Aja Naomi King, for SHAPE MAGAZINE by Ben Watts |
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| Comedian & "Girl's Trip" actress Tiffany Haddish for GLAMOUR MAGAZINE, by Billy Kidd |
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| At age 48, supermodel Naomi Campbell still reigns supreme covering VOGUE PARIS as a "legend of fashion", photographed by Mikael Jansson |
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| Model Duckie Thot for MARIE CLAIRE MEXICO, by Yossi Michaeli |
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| Model Slick Woods for ELLE UK, by Paula Kudacki |
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| Model Anok Yai for I-D MAGAZINE by Ethan James Greene |
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| Model Yasmin Wijnaldum by Quentin De Briey |
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Starring on"Black-ish" and "Grown-ish" as Zoey Johnson,- actress, Harvard student, and budding political activist Yara Shahidi muses over style, art and politics as she covers the September issue of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, photographed by Sami Drasin
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| In a "passing of the torch" moment, the Fall/winter issue of LOVE UK Magazine features veteran supermodel Naomi Campbel (48) paired with millennial fashion star Adwoa Aboah (26), both stripped of fashion with only minimal makeup, to show that beauty is not only timeless but as varied as age and body type. Photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott. |
Be sure to join us in September as we bring you the NUY 40+ Fall Fashion edit of designer looks -straight from the runways in our own September Issue for New Urban Youth 40+!
