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Vogue & All Our Faces

Diversity

By Tosin LawoyinPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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VOGUE May 2018

Prior to yesterday, I had never bought VOGUE. Ever. I had been given and gifted it but I'd never actually bought a copy for myself to keep or to gift. This seems now like a strange thing to type out loud because for as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed looking at beautifully photographed and painted editorials of women.

A vivid memory of this for me is being a child of about five or six, gazing partly lovingly but mostly in awe at the side profile of a woman walking a cheetah; her hair, only partly covered by a scarf, the rest of which was blowing in the wind behind her parallel to the ground. She was wearing sunglasses and a pencil skirt, strutting. She oozed modesty in the most ostentatious way, a paradox that baffled and fascinated me in equal measure, I was obsessed.

My choice to not buy VOGUE wasn't necessarily a deliberate one any more than not attending a party I hadn't been invited to. They are not choices I make; rather they are spaces that covertly and sometimes explicitly led me to believe that I am not welcome; that people like me are not welcome. In light of this, I, as a person of colour; a black woman at that, had to learn by process of elimination, how to curate the media I consumed and the degrees to which I allowed them to occupy the spaces surrounding me. I am a minority, yes, and it is true that elimination from the dialogues and representations of beauty in mainstream media does little for our self-esteem and even less for the sense of positive self-perception we try to develop within ourselves.

Exclusion from this discourse is detrimental not just to individuals of minority groups but can also be detrimental to the brand. Though people of colour might be consumers, albeit secondary ones, it'll be ignorant and naive to assert that we are not all in some way influenced by fashion establishments like VOGUE, because we are. But despite being consumers, myself and many other women and indeed men of colour have never actually crossed the threshold from secondary consumer to paying customer.

We can argue that "actual" custom from persons of colour isn't fundamental to the upkeep of VOGUE and establishments like it. After all, brand endorsements and advertising campaigns are how the bills are paid and how the lights are kept on. In that being said, this system means that there is complete oversight and erasure of the fact that more than being consumers, we, people of colour are also contributors to the culture that keep VOGUE and other establishments like it going, whether it is through music, fashion, art and various other media platforms and as contributors, it might be a little inequitable to keep us out of the audience and general target market.

When Edward Enninful was announced as the new editor in chief of VOGUE, my excitement was laced with natural cynicism. Being all too aware of the presence and effects of tokenism in media, especially in visual media, I was slightly hesitant to accept that his occupation of that office would make any real difference and have any real impact. There might be people of colour present in boardrooms as directors, editors, shareholders and even editors in chief, however, bureaucracy, red tape and the politics of consumerism prevents any visible change from taking place.

Yesterday, I walked into Marks and Spencer's to grab a bite for lunch and as I headed down the tills to pay, there she was; Adut Akech, in the most exquisite Prada embellished shirt, along with Halima Aden and seven other women; white and of colour representing beauty in all its variations across a wide spectrum. This goes beyond just seeing. This is what representation looks like and my goodness, it feels good.

As I read through Enninful's editor's note, a few things crossed my mind, the standout thought being that he had done it. Enninful had done it, with purpose and vision, with deliberate thought and action, he had caused me to cross the threshold into being a customer. An actual customer. In his nine months in office, he has graced the covers with the likes of Zoe Kravitz, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Adwoa Aboah and now this May 2018 issue which is a celebration of diversity and difference in beauty and I pray it remains like this. Forever. God, I pray it remains like this.

fashion
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About the Creator

Tosin Lawoyin

Woman.

Running with Wolves.

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