How British Vogue’s Edward Enninful Is Disrupting Fashion

“If you can see it, you can be it.” For Edward Enninful, the trailblazing editor-in-chief of British Vogue and European Editorial Director for Vogue, the notion of visibility has always been paramount.

Enninful shares his remarkable career trajectory in his memoir, A Visible Man, which is released today.

But it’s more than the autobiography of a young boy originally from a military base in Ghana, who relocated with his family to Ladbroke Grove, London, as refugees. It’s the story of how a man who always felt “othered” shook up the fashion industry, shattered preconceived definitions of beauty — and broke barriers while doing so.

Enninful listened to his calling — fashioning a new vision of magazines — and even in the midst of a career already spanning more than 30 years, his story is still being written.

Among some of Mr. Enninful’s noteworthy milestones: he is the first male editor-in-chief of British Vogue in its 106-year history, a post he took on in 2017. He is also the first Black editor to be at the helm of Vogue in Britain or America. He claimed the title of youngest person at any international fashion publication to hold the position of Fashion Director on a magazine’s masthead, when he was hired by Terry Jones at i-D, at age 18.

“Coming into British Vogue, I remember thinking, I wanted to create a magazine for all women, which reflected the world out there, of these incredible women with incredible stories to tell,” Enninful shares. “And I remember thinking to myself, You’re probably going to get fired for making it inclusive, but I also said to myself at the same time, But that would be great. Because at least I would have been true to myself. So that’s very important to me — authenticity. Being true to myself and my vision.”

As a lifelong advocate for diverse voices, Enninful spearheaded “The Black Issue” at Italian Vogue, which featured only Black models. He eventually rose to become the fashion and style director of W Magazine.

“What I love about this world is that it’s not just about magazines anymore, it’s about magazines being the center of an ecosystem of video and audio. It’s changing to meet the needs of new audiences, filled with young people too.”

It helps to go back to the beginning for Enninful, to truly get a front-row seat of how inspiring his story is, and understand the method behind his mission-driven career and life as a forward-thinking, thought provocateur.

“My whole life has been spent showing the next generation that they can do it — I always say, ‘if I can do it, you can do it, too.’ I had André Leon Talley to look up to, and I want the younger generation to know, if you can see it, you can be it. It’s so important.”

Here’s the thing: Enninful is not one for nostalgia or looking back. He forges ahead, fearlessly. He is quite literally a visionary, who not only looks towards a more inclusive future, but takes actions to make it happen.

“I have never been one to rest on my laurels,” Enninful explains. “And I’m not that kind of person to say, Okay, I’ve done it. Now I can sit back. I’m on a constant mission.”

When Enninful applied for the role of editor-in-chief at British Vogue, he was equipped with a manifesto – he wanted to create “a Vogue that really represented women today, just as it had in the ‘70s. Ordinary women’s stories, activism, stories about culture, and people who were shaping the world.”

At the time, the narrative was that Black women on covers don’t sell magazines. Since Enninful took over — with more than half of his covers featuring women of color — revenue is up and circulation has increased.

“I’m a doer. What I said I would do five years ago, is exactly what I’ve done,” Enninful states. “In this day and age, I look at magazines that are now so much more diverse and I realized nobody was having this conversation in 2017. So I had to really go against the grain. And I’m really proud to say that. Now it’s normal for all women, of all sizes, shapes, colors, religious beliefs, and sexuality, to be able to see themselves reflected.”

Like a superhero who has cultivated superpowers, Enninful’s origin story tells the tale of a boy who was transported to the glamorous world of fashion magazines while growing up in Ghana, and who was introduced to the notion of beauty via his mother, who was a couturier (dressmaker). He always felt invisible, until he realized that he was visible to others — like to stylist Simon Foxton who discovered Enninful while he was a teenager riding the train. And visible as a Black man in London and France; he shares an encounter in Paris, where while on a fashion assignment, he was stopped by the police in Place Vendôme.

“I was going to be my authentic self and was going to be seen as all those labels, which would otherwise make me invisible — poor, Black, working class, gay — I was going to turn them into positives. And they were going to work for me.”

Today, Enninful’s superpowers include curiosity, fearlessness, drive, and empathy.

“The reason why I’m able to do what I do, the reason why the book, A Visible Man, is touching so many people is because I emphasize a lot — I empathize with all kinds of women, of different races, different ages, different sizes. I find beauty in all of them. And I’m sitting here today because of empathy. Thanks to Terry Jones and Simon Foxton, who saw me on the train and saw something in me and thought, let’s give this little Black kid from nowhere, a chance. And I’ve tried to repeat that and pass that on, to those I mentor.”

Speaking of mentors, mentorship is one of Enninful’s life missions. He shares the encounters of his mentors in the book, which is exactly why he is so driven to pave the way for the younger generation.

“One of the reasons why I wrote the book as well, is for the younger generation to see what really got me here is the journey — the ups, the downs, the struggles, the health issues, all that make me who I am, and all that got me here. That’s why I often say, ‘Don’t let anything stop you from getting where you want to go.’”

Among the things that commonly stop us: fear and imposter syndrome.

“Imposter syndrome can sometimes still pop up! Everybody suffers from imposter syndrome. You can look at an incredibly famous person and I bet when you sit down with them, they’ll share that they had imposter syndrome too. So you’re not alone,” Enninful asserts. “You deserve to be where you are at that time. You need to believe it. That’s what I would have said to my younger self, anyway.”

Fear certainly goes hand in hand with being plagued by imposter syndrome and it’s something that comes up when faced with disruption, wanting to do things differently, rocking the boat, and shaking up the status quo.

For Enninful, “Disruption is important, because that’s the only way the world can move forward. For the younger generation, I want to say just go with what you feel, as fear cripples people. Be as fearless as you can and disrupt in your own way.”

And in an era where terms like ‘quiet quitting’ and setting boundaries at work are gaining momentum, it’s worth reminding readers that it’s important to push and work hard — just never at the expense of your health and well-being.

“You can’t sleepwalk. You have to give everything your best. I didn’t get here because I did great. I got here because I made mistakes. I got here because of my mistakes. So you have to just keep going and you have to learn from your mistakes — that’s a beautiful thing. A lot of times young people are scared to make mistakes, they feel like everything has to be perfect straight away. But making mistakes is what gets you where you need to go and it leads to growth. Because you won’t repeat them — hopefully.”

The book has an overarching theme of vision, being seen and being invisible, as well as being an image maker, but there’s also a major theme of creating waves, making noise, and seeing the publishing industry (or any platform) as a megaphone for change.

“My favorite question is, why?” Enninful shares. “My advice for any young person going into an institution is, when they say we don’t do it this way — just say, why? Why can’t we do it this way? And that’s really what I did.”