UK Vogue February 2022 by Rafael Pavarotti

[TomFordforGucci]

Obsessed with the group cover, it's so unapologetic.

 

[[Piece Of Me]]

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew exactly what kind of comments would occur on here and of course I was right. It's very telling how, as soon as a group of black models are on a cover, it's about "diversity" or "a political agenda". Why can't it just be seen as a cover with models? Why do people immediately think it's about diversity, it doesn't mention that anywhere on the cover.

 

[kokobombon]

I wish they would have done colorful styling like in his usual shots...

 

[Melancholybaby]

I like the intensity of the black on black, and I wonder how this will look on the cover in glossy print.

I'm not crazy over Adult's cover (and the second one I have no words for) but I did wonder what it will look like on the newsstand at my local Tesco. I may not love it but it is definitely going to stand out. The colour scheme alone is so unusual for a magazine cover and I like that I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet.

 

[Kiyoko]

I thought Annie Leibovitz was the worse ~ but I’ve been proven wrong! The aesthetic of looking like statues is not what I’m looking for in fashion photography.
Where is the joie de vivre … is that a dirty word in 2021?
Every month I dislike Edward Enninful ~ just a little bit more. His tenure is plebeian in the execution of ideas from hair in the eyes; bosoms out; squatting; adidas; rubber gloves; durags; normal people; environment; corsets ~ I could go on … & on!

This is my feelings from about 1998 onwards … so I blame Alexandra Shulman too

 

[MagFan]

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew exactly what kind of comments would occur on here and of course I was right. It's very telling how, as soon as a group of black models are on a cover, it's about "diversity" or "a political agenda". Why can't it just be seen as a cover with models? Why do people immediately think it's about diversity, it doesn't mention that anywhere on the cover.

How often we see models on the covers of this magazine and how many of them are not black?
Only celebrities like Moss or McMenamy and the other model cover last year was... group of black girls

 

[[Piece Of Me]]

How often we see models on the covers of this magazine and how many of them are not black?

And that's a problem because...?

How many black models have we seen on the cover of Vogue UK in the last 25 years? That's another question you could ask yourself. If you look at Edward's model covers, I think it has been pretty mixed. We have seen the likes of Kirsten, Kate, Jourdan, Karlie, Cara and Naomi and Adwoa.

 

[Xone]

They all look supporting cast of Lupita's Nyongo movie US i don't know why...the faces...the crazy wigs..the treatment....it was nice idea to have models on the cover and i even would say Adut's cover alone was enough...on the inside pictures....mmm i just hope their printing is very very good...

 

[kasper!]

Franca already showed the world how to make a legendary all-black issue, please take a careful look, Edward. This is the most terrible cover from him, seriously.

 

[Xone]

Franca already showed the world how to make a legendary all-black issue, please take a careful look, Edward. This is the most terrible cover from him, seriously.

And the funny thing is that Edward was involved in that issue....

 

[aracic]

Where does it say that this is an all-black issue, though? Diversity finally isn't being used for promotion here and we're still finding ways to criticize the efforts - not even aesthetically, but criticizing the fact that it's an all-black casting. And for what? It's so nice to finally see a strong cast of black models without it having to be ''for the first time'' type of thing or ''breaking boundaries'' type issue. They're just gorgeous girls modelling the new collections and it's great to see. It would be great if we could move past the mindset that every group cover needs to contain every ethnicity ever. Diversity doesn't always have to be racial. You won't see much racial diversity in asian magazines and I've never heard a complaint. But you will see great diversity in talent they display and beautiful imagery and after all, that's really what matters in a fashion magazine.

I still quite dislike the group cover. There's something very Givenchy-by-Riccardo-Tisci-esque about it, but that contrasting shade of blue is so repulsive that it throws off the entire cover. A different background could've done wonders since I grew fond of the dark atmosphere as well as Adut's solo cover. Might even buy it if I like what's inside, there's a strong Steven Klein's sexy glamour sense about it and Adut's got legs for days! But I really wish it didn't have the chunky two bits on each side, what is it even? Panniers? It's distracting.

 

[clo]

The group cover is atrocious not because of the models but because of the shade of blue which is quite the eye sore. Shame that they use such a lovely bunch of girl, only to photograph them in the worst possible way.

 

[kokobombon]

^^and Pavarotti´s style is to feature all black models on his shoots...
I´d side eye this if there were models of other races...

 

[tigerrouge]

We should be used to the UK Vogue formula by now - a cover that contains a 'talking point' of some sort which gets attention, everyone debates it for a while, then when the actual contents are revealed, they're usually quite generic, and people stop talking about the issue.

I notice this because my subscription copy takes about two weeks to turn up, by which point, the lively conversation about the cover has died down, and people don't typically have a lot to say about the rest of the contents, people don't seem to feel very involved with the rest of the issue.

So everyone's first impressions of a cover image seen on social media is about as good as it gets, in terms of interesting content. Vogue wants us to talk about the cover, they're certainly not beyond producing something to divide opinion, and when different opinions get posted, there's no 'right answer', we're all just responding in the way Vogue wants, by giving it any attention at all.

 

[lucy92]

I'm confused if the headline is criticizing euro centric beauty standards why continue to perpetuate them here? I'm not getting the reason behind the art choices here.

Adut appears if she is wearing a wide Spanish farthingale on the solo cover. This is what court women in Spain would wear in the 15th and 16th century.

I'm not sure i understand the art direction here either.

 

[oaklee91]

I’m all about the idea here, the execution though…

 

[tigerrouge]

I really wish it didn't have the chunky two bits on each side, what is it even? Panniers? It's distracting.

I mentioned earlier - possibly the sign of a new size/format for the magazine? The first person to see it on sale or get their copy in the post will have to let us know.

 

[aracic]

I mentioned earlier - possibly the sign of a new size/format for the magazine? The first person to see it on sale or get their copy in the post will have to let us know.

Oh I meant the black chunks covered by the skirt fabric, but I did also notice all the new space around the logo - reminds me of Hong Kong, but doesn't feel quite as bothersome and actually fits quite nicely here. I'm curious to see it in person.

 

[PowerDroid]

can't see anything.....

 

[kokobombon]

Question for poc members: I´m in a FB group where members are not into fashion and have no idea about Pavarotti´s work. Most are raising eyebrows saying this is racist. Do you think it is?