GiST
[ Adwoa ABOAH ]
Was ‘Appalled’ By How
‘Uninclusive’ British Vogue
Used To Be
Adwoa Aboah has said she was “appalled”
by how non-inclusive British Vogueused
to be, saying the magazine was “so vanilla”.
In 2017, the model graced the cover of the
publication for Edward Enninful’s first issue
as the new editor-in-chief.
While Aboah expressed her excitement
over being featured on the cover following
its publication, in the past she felt the maga-
zine predominantly catered for a particular
category of model. “For an English magazine
I was completely appalled by how uninclusive
it was, for a magazine birthed out of London,
where we are so lucky enough to walk the
streets and see all different types of shapes
and sizes and colours and faces and ethnicities
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and backgrounds, for it to be only directed
to one type of person,” the 26-year-old told
Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the latest episode
of Channel 4podcast Ways to Change the
World.
Aboah added that she witnessed other mod-
els who she’s worked with being “supported
and nourished” by British Vogue in a way
that she never was.
“And I can never really understand why
that was,” the Gurls Talk founder said. “You
know I’m British, as much as the other girls,
and I’m born in London, and it was so vanil-
la.”
The model shared a photograph on Ins-
tagram of the publication’s editorial staff,
alongside the caption: “This is the staff photo
of @britishvogue under the previous editor
#AlexandraSchulman. Looking forward to
an inclusive and diverse staff now that @
edward_enninful is the editor…let’s hear your
thoughts?” The picture has since been deleted
from the social media platform.
During an interview conducted earlier this
year, Aboah expressed her belief that her role
in the fashion industry is to be “f***ing au-
thentic”.
The model explained that being herself
“through and through” can “set an example for
others on their journey”, then “that’s as good a
message as any”.
In March, Aboah appeared alongside the
Duchess of Sussex during a panel discussion
led by the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust in
celebration of International Women’s Day.
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