When Edward Enninful was named as the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue last year, there was definitely a shift in the fashion industry.
Enninful instantly made an impact by choosing Black supermodel Adwoa Aboah for his very first cover for the magazine and even did a cover featuring nine models of color this past May.
While Enninful is very much doing his part to encourage more diversity within the fashion world, he cautions against the old guard’s habit of turning the efforts into a “trend.”
Enninful, who recently spoke at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, said, “Culturally, fashion can make great statements. This whole conversation about diversity, there’s a fear that it could turn into bandwagoning.”
He continued, “We have to feed it, we have to nurture the young generation like I was nurtured. We have to make sure that it’s not something that is spoken about as a trend.”
Despite the progress that’s been made, Enninful admits that there’s still plenty more work to be done. “We’re all here doing our best, but we’re not doing enough,” he said.
As for the future, like his “new” Vogue, Enninful hopes his industry will evolve on a grand scale: “It’s very important that I show images that make the world think it is normal to be who you are. Until we’re not talking about diversity [and] it’s just a given, that’s what I’m trying to work for.”