The September Issue

The September Issue of Vogue is FINALLY here! Which starlet did Anna Wintour choose to grace the cover of the magazine's most important issue of the year? None other than a woman whose presence screams classy, sophisticated, and stylish; Ms. Halle Berry. She wow's vogue readers in her 8-page spread, wearing deep-hued pieces by Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, and Escada; simple elegance. Hold up...an African American woman on the cover of Vogue's September issue? This hasn't happened since Naomi Campbell embellished Vogue's cover in September of 1989! I remember watching "The September Issue," a while back (a documentary filmed by R.J. Cutler that gives viewers the ins and outs of putting together the Septemeber Issue of Vogue). There was a point in the documentary where Anna Wintour was going through a stack of previous Septemeber issues of Vogue and came across the one with Naomi Campbell on the cover. She looked at it and mumbled, "That was controversial, putting a black girl on the September cover of Vogue. I remember that was my first one that was considered questionable." Interesting....and that was only 21 years ago. Yeah, you read correctly, only 21 years ago. Of course we've seen a handful of  African Americans on the cover of previous issues of vogue; like Beverly Johnson (the FIRST black model to appear on the cover of Vogue [1974]), Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Hudson, and Michele Obama... just to name a few; but an African American woman on the cover of Vogue's September issue? This is huge! (and unfortunately, extremely rare)  In the letter from the editor,  Anna Wintour speaks on the topic of adversity and the different ways that Vogue has dealt with it; CFDA/Vogue's 7th on Sale for HIV and AIDS, CFDA/Vogue's Fashion Fund after 9/11, and Fashion Night Out  to cope with the economic downfall. She explains how Halle Berry was the perfect addition to this issue because she knows how to deal with adversity, "She has shown grace in the good times and grace under fire in the bad. If that's not how to tackle adversity, I don't know what is." (Anna Wintour, Vogue, September 2010) If you don't have this issue yet, I strongly encourage you to get it...now!

Photo Credit: Vogue