Fashion Needs A Revolution. There Are Signs That It’s Here

This morning fashion editors will have caught the 5am flight to Milan. The style parade has moved on and London Fashion Week is over, leaving a trail of sequins and colorful plumage behind. This season felt like a particularly starlit extravaganza. The Americans came to town in their droves: we’ve had Giorgio, Gigi, Kaia and the irrepressible model Slick Woods. But excitement on the front row was mainly fueled by the arrival of Edward Enninful, the new editor of British Vogue. There has been acres of press coverage over Enninful’s appointment. And I was unwittingly caught up in elements of it. I ran against him for the editorship and the disappointment was a visceral knock. But, personal emotions aside, I was glad it was Enninful because although every candidate wanted to increase diversity (and the current October issue of Vogue, which I edited before I left, has my view) his appointment shouted a dramatic shift in a way no one else could and cemented what was already playing out on the catwalks. But racial diversity across the industry is not the only battle that needs winning. The many variations of the female body shape are still largely ignored, despite many valiant attempts to transform the landscape. And here, social media has proved to be the most voluble instrument of change. Read more at Evening Standard.