oh the discussion of who deserved a vogue cover. as a mod leader at the fashion spot, it’s up for debate constantly, and the conversations get very heated. i will be the first to admit, i haven’t always agreed with anna wintour’s cover choices (britney spears, priscilla and lisa marie presley and riley keough, jessica biel) or why she seems to love giving some women multiple covers (sienna miller, sarah jessica parker, nicole kidman, blake lively, jennifer aniston), but in their role of “placing fashion in the context of culture and the world we live in—how we dress, live, and socialize; what we eat, listen to and watch; who leads and who inspires us,” you can’t really argue with putting kim kardashian and kanye west on the cover (she put the spice girls on the cover…how’s that for cultural zeitgeist!) in the video, kim wears lanvin and alexander mcqueen while kanye looks at her adoringly, and how cute is baby nori?
to those who are upset because she supposedly bumped kate upton from the cover, let’s not forget she had a vogue cover less than 12 months ago (that was much talked about). think of what happened to hilary swank, who had just won her second oscar for millon dollar baby, and she was bumped from the cover for melania knauss. she appeared on the cover wearing a christian dior haute couture wedding gown (the first bride in the history of the mag), and the article was 14 pages of knauss planning the wedding and a peek into her new jet-setting life. they didn’t even put her name on the cover (mrs. donald trump!)
in the case of kim and kanye, the numbers don’t lie. however she came into the public eye, the fact is people watch keeping up with the kardashians and its spinoff’s. kim’s 2010 w magazine cover was tied for their best-selling of the year and she has a very successful clothing line and other businesses. people buy kanye west’s music and purchase tickets to his concerts (including me), and the industry applauds him (he has 14 grammy awards). people line up to buy his sneakers, and want to see what he’s going to do (or say) next. to say that are unworthy of a vogue cover just doesn’t make sense. anna will put on the cover who she wants, who she thinks is culturally relevant, and who is going to sell magazines. magazines exist to sell issues, promote advertisers, and get you to buy products. many think vogue should be held in a higher regard than other fashion magazines (like marie claire, w, or harper’s bazaar), and while it is seen as an achievement to nab a cover, all magazines have to adapt to the changing times. the rise of celebrities like kardashian is one of those changes. on a personal note, i like that it’s an interracial couple since i’m part of one. think of all the couples over the years that vogue could have had on the cover, and to have an interracial one is wonderful and again a sign of the times (the last real couple to be on the cover was cindy crawford and richard gere in november 1992).
would i love to see a cover with tilda swinton, kerry washington, amy adams, victoria beckham, or lupita nyong’o? of course! but here’s the great thing about vogue: a new issue will come out next month, and the month after that for me to look forward to, and i’m sure we’ll be debating (once again) whether that person deserves a cover or not.
pic from vogue.com
