Vibrant kids drawings grace the June cover of ‘Vogue’ Italia to illustrate ‘Our New World’
Vogue Italia is steadily subverting the status quo of fashion magazine covers.
Once the heralded home for celebrities and models, it is now showcasing a series of bold artistic choices. January’s sustainability issue opted for illustrations to avoid the significant travel footprint, electricity, and food waste involved with regular cover shoots. In response to the havoc and instability COVID-19 has brought to the world, April’s issue featured a blank white cover to symbolize the “title page of a new story that is about to begin.”
And now for June, Vogue Italia is handing the creative reins over to the kids.
For its “Our New World” cover story, Vogue Italia put a call out to 100 kids between the ages of 2 and 10 to reimagine the looks of the season. And from that group, eight artists were selected to have their work grace the cover of the magazine.
“Kids have been the most overlooked and least obvious victims of the pandemic,” said Emanuele Farneti, chief editor of Vogue Italia in a statement. “We’re starting from them to imagine a new world.”
British Vogue has also taken a new approach to its cover shoots with its July issue featuring three frontline and essential workers, two of which are women of color, during the pandemic.
All of this creativity and diversity, ironically, comes in the midst of the backlash Vogue publisher Condé Nast has received in light of some of its editors at top titles perpetuating racial inequality in the workplace. Anna Wintour, editor in chief and global content adviser of Vogue, stepped forward with an apology that “Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors” and that the magazine has “made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant.”
Wintour’s mea culpa inspired the #VogueChallenge where mainly people of color inserted themselves onto the hallowed cover of Vogue—and the results have been rather stunning.
The Vogue brand has clearly been stretching its creative muscles in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. American Vogue‘s July/August cover featured a single rose, the first still-life cover in more than 50 years, due to the staff being under quarantine and self-isolation. That said, with the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial inequality undoubtedly playing a key role in the presidential campaigns and with Wintour’s promise to do better in elevating the voices of people of color, Vogue‘s crown jewel, its September issue, presents a unique and high-profile opportunity for Wintour to make good on that promise.
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