Alice Rhodes

Before I start I'd like to say Alex Shulman was a brilliant editor and was British Vogues longest serving editor-in-chief, so she is a pretty impressive woman! However, for me, Vogue was loosing it. The covers began to feel boring and more worthy of Cosmopolitan or Glamour, not Vogue. The magazine was in need of a breath of fresh air, something new and exciting. Edward Enninful has provided what I was looking for.

Growing up I have associated Vogue Magazine with glamour, high-end fashion and the ultimate guide to fashion forward trends. In the last few months it had lost this idyllic status in my mind, I wasn't enthused by new issues or raving about the cover photos- it felt too safe, like it was equal to all other large fashion magazines. Rather than being the 'it thing' it was picking Celebrities that would sell copies and taking generic headshots for the cover photos. It wasn't satisfying my need for interesting angles; bold, garish cat-walk-style fashion choices; bright playful colours and refreshing, innovative ideas. It was just same old, same old. So I turned to independent, lesser known magazines and journals for more daring covers, breaking the boundaries between fashion and art. 

Edward Enninful is, for me, Vogues saviour. He has chosen a cover photo that is new and intoxicating. The photoshoot has used a makeup look that isn't just a smoky eye and nude lip, it's playful and vivid. But the colours aren't just blue and red they're wild, electrifying and contemporary. It isn't something people are already wearing, it's something they're going wear because it was in Vogue.  

That for me is what Vogue is. It's not what people are already doing, it's what people are about to do. It isn't predictable or of-the-time, it's what's about to happen- always one step ahead. If Edward Enninful keeps his covers this fresh and exhilarating Vogue will once again be what it was to me growing up- the epitome of what's about to be in style, or should I say, in vogue.