US Vogue 'Digital Edition' Winter 2024 : Usher & Carolyn Murphy by Campbell Addy

[blueorchid]

There's two Vogue readers, the loyal, that knows all the classics, and there's the other kind, the one from social media that pushes for their annoying idol to have a cover and buys the magazine only when it happens. They are the ones that ask "Who's that woman with Usher?".

You forgot the third... the people who don't buy it, yet complain about every damn issue. Like me.

 

[TerraVera]

I mean…The possibility for the fanbase of Usher to suddenly support a US Vogue cover when he wasn’t necessarily a big magazine seller anyway is…A possibility.

But at this point the debate is kinda pointless.

Usher has access to the circles of fashion. He been to shows (I remember him coming to menswear seasons and even seeing him at a Chanel show years ago). His status, his beauty has always been recognized.

Tbh, I kinda commend him for never having done that branding prostitution. It makes the appreciation of the industry more genuine. Case in point, he got a cover of Vogue to celebrate his achievement…Something Vogue hasn’t done for anybody before.

The fact that he doesn’t have a big brand behind was a point to be made but I appreciate that.
Celebrities don’t deserves contracts or endorsements, they deserves the success and accolades they get.

I know it’s a trend in Hollywood to have people hustling for an Ambassador contract but we got to chill.

I think Carolyn is perfect for that Ed. She is a legendary model, the Vogue reader knows her and she is the face of Estée Lauder, a big advertiser.
And Usher is getting this cover because of his worldwide appeal. I think the success of his shows in Paris was the proof of that.

But I really find the controversy ridiculous. Let’s celebrate the man!
The capacity that IG has to ruin any momentum will never cease to amaze me.

i see your point about branding, but it still would be nice for him to have at least one big fashion sponsor, even if it's just for a season. at this point in his career, he's earned it.

however, it's not really accurate to say he got a cover - sienna miller is on the "official" winter 2024 cover, the real cover. usher is on the minor version, to be stuffed somewhere in between the pages of the winter 2024 issue. again, if he was on this or feb 2024 cover, then, yes, that would be an impressive achievement. but this? nah, it's not, especially not in this way.

IG may not like the cover, but those people will be tuning in to see him shut the house down. they're not hurting his stride. they aren't tearing him down; they want better for him. that's not a negative.

people are definitely celebrating usher, just not this "cover" lol

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and, usher doesn't have male contemporaries who would be considered for a vogue cover. out of all of his contemporaries, beyonce got three so... yeah. it's really funny how some of you are irked about people's criticism of this.

 

[NYLA22]

huh? you realize that harry styles and timmy c both had male solo covers of us and british vogue, respectively, so does it really matter? and when (white) men have been featured on the cover of vogue, they were shown in a much more engaging, flattering, and romantic light than this nonsensical nfl pr-paid mess vogue threw together. there are better, if not dynamic, ways they could have captured usher, highlighted the superbowl in vegas, and included a nod to usher's very successful vegas residency. it's sad he agreed to this mimicry of himself. plus, being thankful annie didn't shoot this is not a consolation prize for this mess.

i agree with @Lola701's suggestion that putting him in pharrel's LV on the cover of GQ would have been more appropriate and impactful than this throwaway digital cover. deviancy aside, he's suave and iconic in his own right - traits that should have been the sell point in the vogue spread.

and, yes, he, like Lebron James, deserved a better cover, digital or not. so miss me with the lame snark.

Oh yeah, Usher definitely should have had a cover of Vogue during his peak... just like oh.... uh... NONE of his contemporaries. What the f*ck kind of revisionism is going on with who historically got/gets Vogue covers? What are we going to argue about next? Why didn't Richard Nixon didn't get a Vogue cover in the 1970s? This is just stupid.

Lol yes. It's so emblematic of the current times we are living in: everything is seen through a lens of self-obsession. "I think things should be THIS way," or "TikTok tells me things should be THIS way, so why didn't Vogue do things that way, as well?" To the point where we have people arguing that Usher should have had the cover of the biggest women's fashion magazine? I guess?

 

[blueorchid]

and, usher doesn't have male contemporaries who would be considered for a vogue cover. out of all of his contemporaries, beyonce got three so... yeah. it's really funny how some of you are irked about people's criticism of this.

Has it occurred to you that Beyoncé got three covers because she's........................................... a woman?

I meant male contemporaries and if we consider 2004 is career peak, with Confessions being the best selling album of that year (doing a halftime show is a sign of a legacy artist, imo, not one at their peak of popularity). Maybe I'd consider someone like Justin Timberlake or Chris Brown (sorry for this, but in 2006 he was also the top male artist on the Billboard chart.

 

[Jacque Marcel]

How much did Roc Nation, NFL, Pepsi and Las Vegas Tourism pay Anna for this? I do like the Vogue trope of male celebs with models. They both look good.

 

[TerraVera]

Has it occurred to you that Beyoncé got three covers because she's........................................... a woman?

I meant male contemporaries and if we consider 2004 is career peak, with Confessions being the best selling album of that year (doing a halftime show is a sign of a legacy artist, imo, not one at their peak of popularity). Maybe I'd consider someone like Justin Timberlake or Chris Brown (sorry for this, but in 2006 he was also the top male artist on the Billboard chart.

has it occurred to you that there were men on the cover before her??? why are y'all acting like men on the cover with a model is an anomaly? (rhetorical question) usher could have been on the cover with a woman like other men before.
this is not rocket science. but since people wanna act triggered, it's too difficult to understand the possibility.
iono why y'all are acting like i'm treating usher as if he's an exception. it's coming off as willfully daft at this point.

heck no to chris brown ever being considered for a vogue cover. one would have to be high af to think that would have ever happen, even at his peak, which was when the incident happened, not '06. i think his first album dropped in 2005, so if we were in another dimension, it would still be too early to consider him for one, anyways.

justin, maybe. a tenuous maybe.

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it's self obsession to think usher should have been considered for a cover to celebrate his superbowl performance??? lmaooo that doesn't even make sense. if i'm self-obsessed for my opinion, then you are as well for your opinion, boo. it's possible to form an opinion not based on social media. it is myopic and such a lazy assumption to think otherwise, but then again that's typical for those with limited logic and sensibilities *shrugs*

 

[blueorchid]

I wish we could all live in your fantasy world where Usher getting a Vogue cover in 2004 was realistic.

 

[Urban Stylin]

Im shocked that Usher is so loved lol

As much as I find the IG 'backlash' annoying and unnecessary, theres nothing shocking about him being so loved. He's one of the most successful RNB artistes of all time, a peer of Beyonce and Alicia Keys.

 

[mikel]

has it occurred to you that there were men on the cover before her??? why are y'all acting like men on the cover with a model is an anomaly?

If you consider 2004 Usher’s peak, then there were only two covers with a male celeb: George Clooney and Richard Gere. So that sounds pretty anomalous too me. And far from a regular occurrence,

 

[Deleted member 141523]

I find Usher like a very nice guy, someone really safe to put on the cover. Of course the controversy here (that shouldn't be one) it's he's a guy. That feud between Anna and Edward because the gender neutral Vogue actually might happen. She only made the exception with Styles during the pandemic year, where all the editions put non female subjects (or illustrations) on its cover. I take that as possible explanation.

 

[tigerrouge]

If Vogue wants to go gender-neutral, and the resulting sales / social engagement yields magnificent results for them, I would be happy to bow out as a reader at that bend in the road, and for us to go our separate ways.

 

[KoV]

Rather than the gender neutral nonsense that’s supposedly been proposed, why don’t they just do a digital relaunch of Vogue Hommes for US and/or UK readers. Maybe special print issues quarterly or twice a year, and call it a day. No disrespect to anyone that doesn’t feel represented and such in Vogue currently, but I don’t see the argument for how adding men and men’s interest content to a historically for-women publication is progressive. And I say that as a man who reads Vogue. Frankly every man I know of who gives a hoot about Vogue is there specifically for the women’s content.


Better yet, just bring back Details.

 

[MModa]

Rather than the gender neutral nonsense that’s supposedly been proposed, why don’t they just do a digital relaunch of Vogue Hommes for US and/or UK readers. Maybe special print issues quarterly or twice a year, and call it a day. No disrespect to anyone that doesn’t feel represented and such in Vogue currently, but I don’t see the argument for how adding men and men’s interest content to a historically for-women publication is progressive. And I say that as a man who reads Vogue. Frankly every man I know of who gives a hoot about Vogue is there specifically for the women’s content.


Better yet, just bring back Details.

Agree with your comments. Miss Vogue Hommes. I also think that if Vogue is posting a digital cover, why not publish two covers for the reader to choose from at the newsstand? Is that difficult? One with Sienna Miller and the other with Usher/Carolyn Murphy. Otherwise, the digital cover loses meaning for me. It just exists/floats on the web.

 

[Lola701]

I think sometimes we are likely to do some revisionism because we see the industry with the eyes of today, where the idea of celebrity has a different meaning, where the fashion industry at large is very different and where also the consumers of fashion or culture have a different profile.

The early 00’s were after all the the return of actresses and actors in the forefront of fashion.

This cover celebrate a momentum, an event that will be largely talked on social media and that will have a massive impact online that he will capitalize for his career.

This is not a defining moment or whatever so I don’t understand that commotion.

Otherwise, the digital cover loses meaning for me. It just exists/floats on the web.

Today anyway, every covers only exists/floats on the web. That’s the crisis of print.

It’s not like Vogue, even when they choose young actresses, put them in the covers when they are doing small indies movies. When they are choosing singers (except for Erykah Badu), it’s a major superstar that has a tour, an album or something major happening.

And even with that, it exists mostly on the web.

That theory that explains that because it’s Usher, an Army of fans would have rushed to the stores to buy this cover, as if he is a K-pop star, sounds ridiculous…
And I’m a fan of Usher, a concerts-tickets paying type of fan.

 

[NYLA22]

Rather than the gender neutral nonsense that’s supposedly been proposed, why don’t they just do a digital relaunch of Vogue Hommes for US and/or UK readers. Maybe special print issues quarterly or twice a year, and call it a day. No disrespect to anyone that doesn’t feel represented and such in Vogue currently, but I don’t see the argument for how adding men and men’s interest content to a historically for-women publication is progressive. And I say that as a man who reads Vogue. Frankly every man I know of who gives a hoot about Vogue is there specifically for the women’s content.


Better yet, just bring back Details.

Yes, agree. What's interesting about magazine publishing right now is that it is delivering a product that most people do not really want. But because of where we are culturally and socially, it is safer for editors to deliver something "safe" rather than something beautiful and show-stopping. Of course, diminished editorial budgets play a big part, too. (And then digitally, they are mostly performing for an algorithm rather than actual people. Not talking about this digital cover, but digital publishing in general).

 

[MModa]

Fun fact: The digital cover photograph appears in Vogue's contents page.

 

[Ivancica]

I really like(d) Usher, but let's face it, he's not that big in 2024 (though I'm happy that he got the Super Bowl half time).
However, why would he be deserving of a (solo?) Vogue cover even at his peak? Don't get these comments...

Anyhow, I like this cover. Of course, it could have been better, but I like the colors, inclusion of Carolyn and Usher himself. Much better than the Sienna one, so it's a pity this is only digital.

 

[Deleted member 141523]

They had Men's Vogue but it was chopped. Americans aren't that open to menswear magazines as the people from Europe or Asia. The male counterpart of Vogue is GQ, but it became so dry. Sounds like a joke, but even Vogue is doing better job showing menswear. Esquire it's the men's magazine that keeps the flame but sadly it isn't Vogue's sister publication, lol. Will Welch at GQ looks like the male Samira. Ugly covers month after month and zero interest in fashion. GQ it's just a bunch of male celebrities promoting their projects.

 

[Kimy Jo]

As much as I find the IG 'backlash' annoying and unnecessary, theres nothing shocking about him being so loved. He's one of the most successful RNB artistes of all time, a peer of Beyonce and Alicia Keys.

Sorry, its just like here in my country Beyoncé and Alicia are loved by everyone, mostly because of the gays and women, but the international male artists dont usually are loved like this cause they dont have a gay loyal fanbase who push them like the women, and here the straights usually like the songs and know the men, but dont buy every single thing they do

 

[MModa]

They had Men's Vogue but it was chopped. Americans aren't that open to menswear magazines as the people from Europe or Asia. The male counterpart of Vogue is GQ, but it became so dry. Sounds like a joke, but even Vogue is doing better job showing menswear. Esquire it's the men's magazine that keeps the flame but sadly it isn't Vogue's sister publication, lol. Will Welch at GQ looks like the male Samira. Ugly covers month after month and zero interest in fashion. GQ it's just a bunch of male celebrities promoting their projects.

Agree about American GQ. And the graphic typography opening their spreads has become awful month after month.