Infamous Photoshoots: Beverly Johnson and Naomi Campbell for Vogue
In honor of Black History Month, let's take a look at two of the most important covers in the history of Vogue magazine: Beverly Johnson being the first Black woman on a cover, and Naomi Campbell being the first Black woman on the September cover.
Vogue debuted in 1892, when diversity in the United States was certainly not celebrated. It took more than 80 years for a Black woman to be featured on the cover. Just think about everything that took place in the country before that happened: The Civil Rights Act became law a full decade before, in 1964. Shirley Chisolm became the first Black Congresswoman in 1968, and a Black woman still didn't get the cover of Vogue for six more years!
Vogue U.S.A.
August, 1974
Photographed by Francesco Scavullo
Beverly Johnson was an aspiring 21-year-old model when she received the news that editor-in-chief Grace Mirabella was putting her on the cover of Vogue. Her cover is emblematic of the magazine's covers from the late 80s -- a close-up headshot featuring colorful makeup and clothing.
If you're a fashion aficionado, you have probably seen the cover. But have you seen the rest of her editorial? It's excellent on its own, even without its ties to the historical cover. The photoshoot, called "What Goes With Pants," features chic black-and-white photos of -- you guessed it -- what goes with pants. It's basically softcore porn of some really great trousers and pantsuits. The 70s had some damn good pants.
Still, it took nearly 15 more years before a Black woman would appear on the cover of a September issue. September is the most important issue of the year for Vogue, as it features the new looks for fall, a sneak peek of trends for the next year, and advertisements from the industry's biggest brands.
It happened in 1989, the year after Anna Wintour became editor-in-chief. Wintour is not exactly known for her commitment to diversity. To her credit, though, her very first September issue as head of the magazine featured a Black cover model. Naomi Campbell was not yet a household name but an up-and-coming favorite in the fashion industry. The year before, she had been the first Black model to appear on the cover of Vogue France.
Vogue U.S.A.
September, 1989
Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier
Frustratingly, though, Campbell appeared in only one other photograph in the September issue of the magazine: an editorial called "Bronze Cast." There were no other Black models used in the rest of the issue's photoshoots.
Wintour also continued Vogue's long tradition of racism. Although a handful of Black models like Iman, Alek Wek, Joan Smalls, and Jourdann Dunn broke onto the scene, models of color were shunted to the side in favor of white women for decades. This exclusion also extended to designers, photographers, stylists and writers. A Black photographer did not even photograph a Vogue cover until 2018, when Beyoncé Knowles recommended Tyler Mitchell for the job -- a full 128 years since the magazine's inception.
In 2020, Beverly Johnson wrote an essay reflecting on her time as a model and the state of the fashion industry. She rips it to shreds for how little it has changed in four decades. As she so eloquently puts it, "For 50 years, I have fought for inclusion and equal pay in the fashion industry. My black model colleagues and I pushed for the inclusion of more black runway models, photographers, hairstylists and makeup artists. But decades later, the fight for inclusion is still fierce."
Washington Post Op-Ed @TheKingCenter @BerniceKing @CyrusMMcQueen pic.twitter.com/ZK2DzEb0lj
- Beverly Johnson (@BeverlyJohnson1) June 17, 2020
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