Vogue Forced To Apologise For Racist Kendall Jenner Photoshoot

Vogue has been accused of cultural appropriation in its latest shoot with Kendall Jenner.

Jenner is sporting an Afro in the photoshoot which celebrates the 15th anniversary of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.

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Fifteen years and 150 finalists later, the @CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize has created global stars, local heroes, a must-watch New York Fashion Week, and, most important, a true sense of community among designers of all ages and backgrounds—all with differing aesthetic and commercial aspirations—who communicate, collaborate, and essentially care for one another through the fun and not-so-fun times. Laura Vassar Brock—one of the founders of 2016 #CVFF winner Brock Collection—says, “We spoke to a few friends who had gone through it, and they all said the same thing: that the Fashion Fund is a life-changing experience. And indeed it was!” Tap the link in our bio to learn more. Photographed by @mikaeljansson, styled by @tonnegood, Vogue, November 2018
A post shared by Vogue (@voguemagazine) on Oct 19, 2018 at 1:29pm PDT

Fury came thick and fast when the photographer of the photoshoot, Mikael Jansson, posted an image of the shoot to his Instagram account.

Instagram users were quick to criticise Jansson and Vogue, with many asking why the magazine had not hired a black model instead.

“Why didn’t you get someone with an actual afro and freckles to model for you instead?” one social media user wrote. “If y’all wanted a model that didn’t look white y’all could’ve booked a girl of colour,” another pointed out.

“They stay tryna turn white women into black women,” one user wrote. “They rather pretend we don’t exist then give us credit. Ugh”

Another user said, “We used to have our hair burned and chemicals because society taught us that we were not beautiful with our afros now they copy our Afros but can’t use actual BLACK models with Afros!”

“She looks dumb. Leave afros for the beautiful black women,” another added.

While some pointed out black models often had straightened hair in Vogue photoshoots, users hit back stating: “The discussion is more about the double standard that there is towards Afro hair and black culture.

In response, Vogue issued an apology to People magazine: “The image is meant to be an update of the romantic Edwardian/Gibson Girl hair which suits the period feel of the Brock Collection, and also the big hair of the ’60s and the early ’70s, that puffed-out, teased-out look of those eras.

“We apologise if it came across differently than intended, and we certainly did not mean to offend anyone by it.”

B&T has contacted Vogue for comment.

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afro kendall jenner racism Vogue