Vogue Italia July 2008 : Liya, Sessilee, Jourdan & Naomi by Steven Meisel

[marlasinger]

I wonder how many copies they printed. I read somewhere that VI usually only sells about 80K copies per issue.

I get mad at Linda Evangelista every time I look at the magazine rack and she her June issue still on the shelf. It's like she's mocking me.

[childkid]

this is kind of random, but i think they should have an asian issue

[kurt vonnegut]

it's been mentioned, but i think that most people agreed that with the various vogues in asia using asian models, it doens't seem as necessary as a coloured vogue because coloured models are having their issues in all markets

[Mchunu]

Originally Posted by Dell

I'm pretty sure he meant Naomi...

thanks..

[hommie]

Originally Posted by kurt vonnegut

it's been mentioned, but i think that most people agreed that with the various vogues in asia using asian models, it doens't seem as necessary as a coloured vogue because coloured models are having their issues in all markets

"coloured"?

[retailqueen]

Lol at me being fooled coming in here every time expecting some scans

[blackangel41999]

Still I don't see it in the newsstand. Are all you sure is out?

[janznote]

Originally Posted by blackangel41999

Still I don't see it in the newsstand. Are all you sure is out?

RACE ON THE RUNWAY

Italian Vogue's all-black models issue aims to change the racial makeup of the industry. Is it an indication of a new trend toward diversity on the runways or just a fad?
By ELVA RAMIREZ
July 2, 2008

Italian Vogue's new edition featuring only black models once again brings to attention the issue of diversity in the predominantly white fashion world. The topic has generated some buzz in recent years, but has had little lasting effect on the runways and in magazine fashion spreads.
Vogue Italia Italian Vogue's all-black issue features Liya Kebede (right) and Sessilee Lopez (left) on the cover spread. The magazine's July issue, which arrives in Italy this Friday and the U.S. next week, features nearly 100 editorial pages of the world's top black models, including Liya Kebede, Sessilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Campbell. Modeling agent Bethann Hardison, who is behind much of the recent diversity-awareness efforts in the industry, contributed to a feature on 10 up-and-coming black models. Celebrity photographer Steven Meisel shot the spreads.
Italian Vogue editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani says the issue was inspired in part by Barack Obama -- "If America is ready for Obama, why won't they be ready for black models?" she asks. Also important were her dismay at last season's mostly white runways, and complaints from models like Ms. Campbell.
"I thought maybe we should make a change," Ms. Sozzani says.
But implementing lasting change is difficult in an industry based on appearance, marketability and flighty trends and gimmicks. Jezebel, a blog that covers women's magazines, tallied non-white models in last season's runways as well as some fall magazine issues. Its analysis of December magazines found that in 22 fashion spreads in nine magazines, only one featured a black woman (singer Beyoncé Knowles) in a fashion spread. Jezebel's rundown of last February's New York shows found that 112 black models were used to fill 2,278 slots -- about 5% of the total.
DISCUSS

Will Italian Vogue's all-black issue encourage diversity? How should the fashion industry encourage diversity in the future?

The anticipation surrounding the Italian Vogue issue filtered into coverage of last week's menswear shows in Milan and Paris, when some blogs questioned whether the DSquared² show in Milan, which featured black models, was an early crest of the trend.
The trouble with trends is that they eventually end. The pale, predominantly blonde look of the past few seasons might soon give way to more diverse runways, but if fashion has its way, it could, like everything else, just be a short-lived fad.
"You have to accept that as the nature of fashion," says model Veronica Webb, who appears in the issue. But when the trend cycles back out, perhaps now "it may not be so pronounced," she says. "It may be that if you're a black girl and you dye your hair blonde, you can work -- you're not categorically rejected if you have dark skin."
Vogue Italia Cover girls Jourdan Dunn (left) and Naomi Campbell (right). Indeed, Ms. Sozzani says she's hoping her issue will provide a more long-term impact. "We're not looking to start a trend. We think this could be a normal thing -- to use a white girl [or] black girl without any difference," Ms. Sozzani says. "When we shoot Naomi [Campbell], we don't care that she's white, black or yellow. She's just Naomi."
But the spotlighting of black models in a grouping of their own -- not integrated with any other races -- could have unintended implications. The issue also fails to recognize any other ethnicities that are underrepresented in fashion.
"It's a slippery slope towards reversing the kinds of problems that the magazine was trying to overcome by making this gesture," says John L. Jackson, Jr., a professor of media analysis at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. "The danger is that all [the editors] have done is find a different way to single out the difference of European beauty, by marking off these racialized bodies in their own special issue."
So far, fashion insiders are cautiously optimistic about the long-term impact of an all-black issue.
"You celebrate and remind people of the contribution of the black image," Ms. Hardison says. "I think where we win is when it becomes all inclusive. I don't mind being the minority as long as I'm part of the flow."
The runway seasons to come will be telling.
"This season we're going to see a lot of black girls in shows," says Neal Hamil, North American director of Elite Model Management. "It's the season after this one that's going to be the test."
Write to Elva Ramirez at elva.ramirez@wsj.com

[blackangel41999]

^So this Friday... ok thanks

[bluecandyboy]

..... patiently waiting

[edwac]

Im not patient at all, im f**king restless, im dying to see this!

[retailqueen]

Originally Posted by edwac

Im not patient at all, im f**king restless, im dying to see this!

Me too

So i hope that on Friday; when I open this thread there Will be scans.
Or else im going to hurt someone .....

[Style-Addict]

Originally Posted by marlasinger

I wonder how many copies they printed. I read somewhere that VI usually only sells about 80K copies per issue.

I get mad at Linda Evangelista every time I look at the magazine rack and she her June issue still on the shelf. It's like she's mocking me

Haha, same here. I asked the people in my bookstore and they said they didnt know when the issue was coming in. Grr..

[SnejanaIsMyMuse]

I can't wait for this ,and I do have to agree with what the one person said.The Spring 2009 runways will most likely be more diverse, but it's after that fact that we will truly see if anything remotely changed.

[vogue28]

It annoys me so bad, when I still see June's issue on the shelf
I am so anxious to see this

EDIT and is the cover a foldout? or multiple covers?
is anyone going to purchase all of them?