British Vogue editor Edward Enninful ‘racially profiled’ by office security guard
"We cannot let the world return to how it was. Change needs to happen now."
By Will Stroude
British Vogue editor Edward Enninful has said he was racially profiled by an office security guard.
Enninful, 48, took to social media to reveal he had been “instructed to use the loading bay” upon entering the magazine’s offices on Wendesday (15 July).
“Today I was racially profiled by a security guard whilst entering my work place,” Enninful tweeted. “As I entered, I was instructed to use the loading bay.”
Today I was racially profiled by a security guard whilst entering my work place. As I entered, I was instructed to use the loading bay. Just because our timelines and weekends are returning to normal, we cannot let the world return to how it was. Change needs to happen now.
— Edward Enninful OBE (@Edward_Enninful) July 15, 2020
The fashion stylist and journalist went on: “Just because our timelines and weekends are returning to normal, we cannot let the world return to how it was.
“Change needs to happen now.”
Enninful, who was appointed editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 2017, becoming the first gay Black person to hold the position in the process, added on Instagram that the security, who worked for a third-party contractor had been “quickly” dismissed by Vogue owner Condé Nast.
He wrote: “Condé Nast moved quickly to dismiss the security guard, but it just goes to show that sometimes it doesn’t matter what you’ve achieved in the course of your life: the first thing that some people will judge you on is the colour of your skin.”
Former Attitude cover star Enninful was born in Ghana before moving to London as a child. At the age of 18, he was appointed fashion director of i-D magazine.
After taking over the reins at British Vogue, he told Attitude: “I’m here now and I’m opening [Vogue] up to a wider audience.”
“In the Sixties and Seventies, you didn’t have to be from a specific demographic to read it. In the Vogue I grew up with in my mum’s sewing room I saw all different [types of] models such as Marie Helvin and Donyale [Luna].
Photography: Damon Baker
“It was a kaleidoscope of races.”
Enninful went on: “I feel what I’m doing here is really going back to the traditions of Vogue, opening up and having conversations about the world we live in, diversity of perspective, of experience.
“The issues at hand, from the abortion laws in Ireland, to transgender women, these are conversations about the world.”