Vogue Magazine's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour reportedly gave Beyoncé "unprecedented control" over the upcoming September issue, HuffPost reported on Monday. To anyone unfamiliar with the inner workings of Vogue, this might not seem like that big of a deal — but that couldn't be further from the truth.
For starters, Wintour famously controls every aspect of the magazine. "There is only one decider at Vogue and that has always been Anna Wintour,"said Yashar Ali, who broke the news. "She picks the clothes, the photographer, she approves everything."
Beyoncé, however, will have the final say on the cover, the photos of her inside the magazine, and their accompanying long-form captions. As a result, she's reportedly hired 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell — the first black photographer to shoot a cover in Vogue's 126-year history.
5. From my story: "Wintour typically prefers to hire fashion photographers with more traditional experience and likely would not have selected Mitchell for a cover shoot, according to a source familiar with Vogue’s editorial process."https://t.co/vfZQAXKC2Z
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 30, 2018
"The reason a 23-year-old black photographer is photographing Beyoncé for the cover of Vogue is because Beyoncé used her power and influence to get him that assignment," a source told HuffPost.
There's also significance in the timing of this decision — namely that Beyoncé's doing all this for the September issue, the most profitable one of the year. There's no fashion magazine cover more coveted than the September issue of Vogue. What's more is that this year's could be Wintour's last. Rumors of the editor's departure have been circulating for awhile, but four sources familiar with Wintour's plans told HuffPost that Beyoncé's Vogue cover will mark Wintour's final September issue.
Vogue hasn't confirmed the news yet, but that didn't stop Twitter from celebrating.
Sick and tired of firsts, but this is one that I love. My friend @Tyler_Mitchell_ is the FIRST black photographer to shoot the cover of @voguemagazine, chosen by the queen herself: @Beyonce. Black art history. https://t.co/2DmLrMDxDd
— kimberly rose drew (@museummammy) July 30, 2018
Beyoncé was really given full creative control and hired the first black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue. The LEGEND jumped out pic.twitter.com/R4XNYCU0W6
— Kevin (@wanttobeyonce) July 30, 2018
I love that Beyoncé believes in putting on other talented black creatives. Reminds me of the time Prince forced InStyle to find a BW to interview him bc they had none on staff. https://t.co/RqvqW9gmF5
— Bené (@beneviera) July 30, 2018
However, many were quick to rightfully point out that it shouldn't have taken Vogue more than a hundred years to hire a black photographer.
It’s amazing, and embarrassing for them, that Vogue has never before had a Black photographer work on their cover. And Beyonce changed that, not Vogue.
— Touré (@Toure) July 30, 2018
sad-gressive: /adj/ a moment of progressive social reform that is sad when you consider context.
sentence: it is sad-gressive that in 2018, vogue will have its first cover shot by a black photographer in its 126 year history https://t.co/bGnn5lvz1M
— Ziwe (@ziwe) July 30, 2018
Hopefully the move by Beyoncé will set a precedent for future issues.
