A new era of British Vogue has been ushered in as on September 1st Edward Enninful completed his first official month as the new editor-in-chief. The forty-five year-old is native to Ghana but later moved to West London with his parents and five siblings. Enninful made his fashion debut at age sixteen, when he was scouted on the Tube by British photographer Nick Knight to model for i-D. The chance encounter catapulted his career, later going on to become their youngest ever fashion director.

Throughout British Vogue’s traditional 101 year old history, there has never before been a male, black or openly gay editor at the helm. Announced on April 10th by Condé Nast International Chairman and Chief Executive Jonathan Newhouse, his appointment reflects a significant shift in the magazine’s outlook to make fashion more inclusive. Geared predominantly toward a white, female audience, in recent years Vogue has been the subject of a number of controversies centred around diversity. In 2016 Vogue Brazil came under fire for photoshopping able-bodied models into amputees for a campaign aiming to highlight the Paralympic Games, while American model Karlie Kloss appeared dressed as a geisha for the magazine’s own 2017 ‘Diversity Issue’.

In 2012, Enninful’s predecessor Alexandra Schulman herself controversially stated, ‘In a society where the mass of the consumers are white and where, on the whole, mainstream ideas sell, it’s unlikely there will be a huge rise in the number of leading black models.’ However, her views around ethnicity seem to reflect an ever-increasing Britain of the past, as in the most recent census of 2011 a rising figure showed 14% of people in England and Wales identified as non-white. Shulman edited British Vogue for 25 years, but many have credited her glaring lack of diversity within the magazine’s pages as one of her biggest shortcomings as an editor. She announced her ‘Vrexit’ in January of this year and with her, a number of senior staff — including Deputy Editor Emily Sheffield and Editor-at-large Fiona Golfar — said goodbye to their positions.

Of late, British Vogue has faced an onslaught of public criticism, particularly as it shared a collage of its 2014 covers where the public were quick to condemn that every one of the models were white. Seemingly in an effort to combat the outcry Jourdan Dunn graced the February 2015 cover, but it remained largely at note that she was the first black model to appear solo since Naomi Campbell in 2002 — a twelve year gap. Shulman’s final issue as editor-in-chief was released in August and while the cover does include native Moroccan Nora Attal, there has been but one other issue this year to feature ethnic diversity — Egyptian-Moroccan model Imaan Hammam appeared on a shared cover with two other models in February. However, Enninful and Shulman are seen as polar opposites. Known for his political activism and provocative shoots, Enninful often blends high fashion with contemporary social issues. Work such as his groundbreaking ‘All Black’ Vogue Italia of 2008 helped earn him the coveted Isabella Blow award in 2014 and an OBE for his contribution to diversity in fashion two years later.

While Enninful’s premiere as editor-in-chief will not be until the December 2017 issue — with subsequent releases until then relying on Shulman’s deputy, Emily Sheffield — significant changes have already begun. Enninful is moving away from the primarily white, middle class female face on all fronts of the magazine. Naomi Campbell now joins fellow Jamaican descendant Pat McGrath on the team of all-star contributing editors. An outspoken activist against racial bias, Campbell placed the spotlight on the magazine’s need for diversification in an Instagram post. Sharing a photograph of Vogue’s previous predominantly white, female editorial team, the model sharply expressed she was “looking forward to an inclusive and diverse staff” under the magazine’s new lead. US Vogue’s Creative Director Grace Coddington, artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen and supermodel Kate Moss too join the new masthead, as both image and film making will have an apparent role in elevating the magazine.

While many have welcomed the change with open arms, Enninful has received his fair share of backlash as some have questioned whether Vogue’s previous blunders lead to preference being placed on his ethnicity rather than his credentials. With a background in styling as opposed to journalism — departing from his role as fashion and style director of W magazine to accept the new position — the decision was certainly unexpected. In conjunction with this, in a world where feminism has become such a pressing issue, particularly in the past few years, many have pointed out whether it’s truly progressive to have a man herald the decisions of a women’s magazine.

Whatever the case may be, fears British Vogue has been losing its relevance have been undeniably mounting and Enninful is set to bring a long-awaited shake-up it so desperately needs. As reflected in the United Kingdom’s Audit Bureau of Circulations, the print edition of the magazine declined 1.5%, while digital fell a staggering 25.5% in the first six months of this year alone. It has become evident