Magazine: Vogue Italia July 2008
Cover models: Liya Kebede, Sessilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Campbell
Editor: Franca Sozzani
"The idea came to me six months ago," she says in heavily accented English. "We were trying to think of something new, Obama was fighting Hillary, and I began to notice that all these girls at fashion shows looked alike. It occurred to me that it would be interesting to see some different girls, black girls, and that was the beginning of the story."
The problem, she insists, is not institutional racism in the fashion world but a lack of choice. "There are 10 black models to every 1,000 white girls." But will the issue, which some might view as wildly tokenistic, make more of a difference than, say, including more black models every month? "Now that I have seen the reaction, I want to put more of them in the magazine.
"We try to do things that are not conventional, because we like risks," she continues. "And sometimes we've had bad reactions but I don't regret anything." Not even last year's Iraq-inspired shoot – described by one critic as "the most tasteless fashion shoot ever" – where Steven Meisel (the magazine's superstar photographer) shot bedraggled soldiers with a harem of women decked out in Cavalli and Dior? "No, because I was convinced – just as I was when we did that 'rehab' photo shoot."
To see the whole interview, please go http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/2213181/Naomi-Campbell-Iman-and-Jourdan-Dunn-grace-Vogue-Italias-all-black-issue.html
Other sources: http://jezebel.com/5024967/italian-vogues-all-black-issue-a-guided-tour
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