US Vogue May 2025 by Henry Taylor, Malick Bodian, Iké Udé & Tyler Mitchell

[blueorchid]

Yet somehow, it still falls flat in comparison to Vogue Italia's Black Issue, which inclusivity did not extend behind the camera so one could argue that this one should be more significant.

Does everything have to be compared to Meisel omg… that was like 17 years ago!! I don’t think you can compare these at all.

 

[Lucien112]

The Men Issue.

 

[jeje10]

Straight men will buy this issue, no doubt.

 

[blueorchid]

I don’t think they’re marketing towards them…

I’m so confused and entertained by the faux outrage these covers are bringing out. Were you all expecting something DIFFERENT?

 

[Marc10]

Ironic that there was such backlash about Annie Leibovitz allegedly not knowing how to light black people, now they got a black photographer for Colman’s cover story and it’s one of the worst lightings I’ve ever seen in a photoshoot.

 

[matheus_s]

 

[Melancholybaby]

The quotes are cringeworthy. Only here for Ozwald Boateng getting some much needed love.

 

[thenewclassic]

I don’t think they’re marketing towards them…

I’m so confused and entertained by the faux outrage these covers are bringing out. Were you all expecting something DIFFERENT?

Expecting? No but



On a more serious note I saw someone suggesting Ayo might be the cover and was looking forward to that.

 

[aracic]

Does everything have to be compared to Meisel omg… that was like 17 years ago!! I don’t think you can compare these at all.

It isn't a Meisel comparison, rather an obvious line between the two issues of the same magazine focusing on the same sole topic. I understand that these cover subjects are relevant to the theme of the issue, but it would've been more interesting to see sharp tailoring on female subjects here. I guess we might've gotten that if the many Vogue editions relating to men weren't all shuttered... So it is what it is.

A$AP's cover appeals the most to me visually, but he's very unappealing to me. Hamilton's is the next best thing, but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the framing. It's odd. The other two are just horrid.

 

[blueorchid]

Anna couldn’t have gotten away with putting women (even as an accessory) on the cover for a Met Gala theme about black men. There’s no way. Of course, on tFS we’d be happy… but elsewhere? No. Not in 2025.

 

[Kite]

Did we all forget that Lewis Hamilton is a homophobe?!

 

[KoV]

Anna couldn’t have gotten away with putting women (even as an accessory) on the cover for a Met Gala theme about black men. There’s no way. Of course, on tFS we’d be happy… but elsewhere? No. Not in 2025.

What? There would have been virtually no pushback if Anna chose a black woman wearing a menswear-inspired look by a black designer and shot by a black photographer. Even less if it was a group shot featuring men and women.

 

[LastNight]

Have to say, I love these (apart from Pharrell’s). I think they’re done really well and they feel special.

 

[blueorchid]

What? There would have been virtually no pushback if Anna chose a black woman wearing a menswear-inspired look by a black designer and shot by a black photographer. Even less if it was a group shot featuring men and women.

Yes... erasing black men from the Met Gala theme. Makes sense.

 

[TomBlanksFullFatMiuMiu]

Whenever they need a black photographer for a black celeb shoot, they just call Tyler
From Kamala to this

 

[KoV]

Yes... erasing black men from the Met Gala theme. Makes sense.

Because every past May issue has featured a strict, literal interpretation of the Met exhibit on the cover?

Amal Clooney for the Catholic one, Carey Mulligan for the China one….

 

[blueorchid]

So because of that... they can't do a literal interpretation for this one?

 

[eugenius]

I'd love to see Lena Waithe here. She does this look quite well, albeit a sapphic version of it, so I think she'd be a great addition to the magazine and/or gala.

 

[KoV]

So because of that... they can't do a literal interpretation for this one?

Did I say that? I’m just countering your assertion that there would have been backlash had Anna gone in a different direction. I’m saying she was pretty much *always* gone in a less literal direction and I see no reason to believe the masses would’ve been in an uproar if she put a black woman rather than a black man on the cover. I’m also saying that the theme for both the exhibit and the gala is broad enough to apply to black women as well as men.

 

[vogue22]

Do we know what cover is going to print?