Fashion risks going backwards on diversity, says ex-Vogue boss

Edward Enninful, the former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, has said “anti-woke” and anti-diversity rhetoric is having “a moment”, and that being super-thin and European are often seen as the beauty norm again in the world of fashion.

The Ghanaian-born British editor and stylist ended his tenure at British Vogue in 2023, and last week launched what he calls an “inclusive” new media platform, EE72.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 podcast Radical with Amol Rajan for London Fashion Week, Enninful suggested the industry risked going back to how it was before years of more inclusive modelling.

“I think we’re potentially going back to an industry that’s just sort of, ‘one type is the norm, being European is the norm, being super-thin is the norm’,” he said.

A string of high street fashion adverts that have been banned because they featured models who looked “unhealthily thin” has led industry experts to warn of a return to the super skinny trend, BBC News recently reported.

Enninful described fashion as an “industry in flux at the moment”. He said he’s therefore “excited” to be returning at what feels like “the perfect time” because “there’s a lot of work to be done”.

The first quarterly print edition of his new venture – titled 72 after the year he was born – focuses on the beauty of women over 50. It features Hollywood movie star and “real human being” Julia Roberts, 57, on its cover.

Enninful came to London as an aslyum seeker, and after being appointed fashion director of the British fashion magazine i-D at the age of 18, he went on to become the first black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, where he championed diversity in order to “represent the world we live in today.”

Asked by Rajan if he thought a cultural “anti-woke moment” was now taking place, he agreed.

“I think it’s definitely a cultural moment,” he replied. “Woke is a dirty word.

“We see what’s happening in the world politically. So anything that’s not deemed as normal or the norm is seen as wrong.”

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines “woke” as meaning “well-informed” or “up-to-date” as well as being “alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice”.

It has been seen as a badge of honour by some on the left, but more often as an insult by those on the right.

The fashionista continued: “It’s not woke to think that someone curvy is beautiful, it’s not woke to think someone from another country is beautiful.”

He believes the fashion industry “has to figure out where we stand and what we stand for”.

In the same interview, Enninful spoke about his departure from Vogue and his relationship with Dame Anna Wintour, who is stepping back as editor-in-chief of American Vogue after 37 years.

He laughed at widespread reports the two had fallen out and that he had been forced out.

“When I took the job, I gave myself five years and I did six,” he explained, adding that she had asked him to give them a year’s notice so they could find his replacement, who turned out to be Chioma Nnadi.

“So it was my decision to leave. But I just loved all these stories like, oh my God, Anna and I were fighting!”

He said she was “actually very supportive” because she could see he was leaving “a secure place” like Vogue to go it alone.

“Anna and I, we text each other all the time. You’re going to see us together.”

Enninful also gave his views on the controversial recent Sydney Sweeney jeans advert.

US fashion retailer American Eagle had the Euphoria and White Lotus actress resplendent in its denim alongside the words: “Syndey Sweeney has great jeans.”

Some people took the pun to mean the ad was implying a racially superior ideal of beauty. Others, however, backed Sweeney and described the outrage as overblown.

“I thought people really read into it probably deeper than I would have,” said Enninful, noting how Sweeney is currently “having a great moment” in her career.

“But then also on the other hand, I guess if you have a blonde woman sitting there talking about her jeans, it will trigger some people.

“So I feel like the population is quite divided really, isn’t it?”

All episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are available to listen to on BBC Sounds.