Edward Enninful’s had an extraordinary life in the fashion world, starting off in front of the camera as a model and shifting to the editorial side as the fashion director of i-D magazine at 18. Now, with Vogue Italia and American Vogue under his belt, he’s settling down at W magazine, and will reportedly replace Alex White as the glossy’s fashion and style director as of April next year.
In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Edward was quizzed about his new position, his plans for the magazine and, of course, Kate Middleton’s outfit choices.
When describing his unique vision for his new scoop at W magazine, Edward only has three things on his mind.
“The first is reflection, and reflection to me is expressing the idea of looking back with a history,” he says. “Sort of the bygone movies, bygone times, to create multiple inspiration boards for the W reader. And there’s the projections, which to me means showing something new and being a projector of what’s to come in a forward-thinking way. And then, W’s documentation, that to me, is to collect what is going on in fashion and finding out how different designers respond to the mood of our times and how we want to dress contemporary women.
“Celebrities are very important to the magazine… I’ve always really loved Tilda Swinton as a model, along with Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Chloe [Sevigny], but I’m also looking at a lot of the new starlets, like the Fanning sisters, Emma Stone, women of their times, the new generation of actresses,” he adds. “They’re really, really sort of into where the magazine’s going to go.”
Edward is also proud to see more black people getting involved in a predominantly white industry.
“You know, I look around the industry, there’s still very few black people. The American fashion industry really has had to reassess its approach to fashion, particularly because Obama came into office,” Enninful says. “You know, for one of the most influential women [First Lady Michelle Obama] in the country to be black. I know that meant a great deal to a lot of black people in the fashion industry. And also now we have Twitter, we have the internet, and I’ve seen so many young black people who are involved in fashion. They’re making their own clothes, they’re styling, they’re taking photographs, and I guess the future generation to come, they’re all racing to become one global fashion industry.”
And the question everyone must answer: what does he think about Kate Middleton’s style credentials?
“I think she’s doing really great. She looks amazing, and I feel a lot of women can relate to her,” he says. “You know, they call her the model princess. I like the fact that she champions what’s called the High Street. She has Alexander McQueen, who is one of our greatest designers and was a dear friend of mine. You know, how Sarah Burton designed the wedding dress for her, you know, she definitely a part of the people, and I think she’s going to be as important to fashion and to the world as Lady Di was. She’s definitely a great champion of Britain. We’re very proud of her.”
Read the full interview here.
