LEGENDARY fashion and lifestyle magazine British Vogue has set the tone and welcomed in a new era with their latest cover, celebrating Black women in all of their glory. In what is arguably their most diverse, Afro-centric issue to date, the February 2022 issue of the popular magazine features 9 glorious (and Black) African models. Their latest issue, which celebrates ‘The Rise of The African Model’, features South Sudanese models Adut Akech, Akon Changkou, and Anok Yai, Ethiopian beauty Akway Amar, Senegalese-Italian Dibaa Maty, Nigeria’s Jumbo Janet, Nyaguaa from Sierre Leone, Australian Abény Nhial, and American model Majesty Amare.
Photographer Rafael Pavarotti captured the group’s beauty, and British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful’s vision beautifully. On the cover, Enninful s
ays, ‘I saw all these incredible models from across Africa who were just so vivacious and smart. These girls are redefining what it is to be a fashion model. He went on to speak about the soon-to-be-historic cover on his Instagram, writing, ‘No longer just one or two dark-skinned girls mingled backstage, but a host of top models took a meaningful, substantial and equal place among the most successful women working in fashion today. It means so much to me to see it.’
Echoing Edward’s words and highlighting the importance of having diver
se models on both sides – the model and the viewer – model Adut told the fashion magazine, ‘When I first started modelling internationally… I would literally be the only Black, dark-skinned girl in the show. There were no Sudanese models, no African models,’ the 22-year-old model said, ‘Now, I go to a show and there are girls from my country, girls from Africa who look like me. So yes, there has been a huge change. It has gone from me being the only one at a show, to 15 or 20 of us. I’m just so happy that we are finally at this place. I was tired of always feeling out of place, and feeling like an outcast.’
