Vogue's most Controversial Issue...

     Vogue is not only a magazine of constant influence and it does not only provide new stylistic ideas, it is also a magazine filled with controversy. Leslie Casimir, of the Houston Chronicle wrote of an all black Vogue issue release in 2008. In 2008, Vogue release an all black issue, feature a fold out four page cover spread with models such as Niomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn, Liya Kebede, and Sessillee Lopez. The magazine was a huge success. Tracy Ferguson of Jones Magazine stated, “They’re beautiful – I didn’t realize it would be this hard to get a copy” (Casimir).

     This issue of the magazine was inspired by Italian Vogue editor, Franca Sozzani. She wanted to do something about the lack of diversity within the magazine and on the runway in general. Ferguson the editor and chief of the fashion and lifestyle quarterly, was not scared to voice her opinion that she was, “disappointed that it took a European magazine, not an American one, to deal with the hesitancy the fashion industry has long held to hire black models, claiming ‘they don’t sell’” ( Casimir). The great amount of talk and the surprising reaction to this issue shows just how much America stills need to learn to accept new ideas.