July (and also Jan/Feb) are notoriously low selling months for magazines. They also seem to be the month that fashion magazines are most likely to put a black face on their covers. This July is no different thanks to the fabled (yet still unseen) issue Vogue Italia which has managed to put a slightly different spin on things. With all the hubbub, it is sure to be one of Italian Vogue's best selling issues of all time. Photographer Steven Meisel has said that he wanted this issue to make editors of the other editions of Vogue magazine to take note and "diversity their pages." So far, US Vogue has responded with an article called "Is Fashion Racist?" and a brief accompanying spread featuring three black models. The article wasn't mentioned on the cover or in the Editor's Letter. Thanks for playing Anna. I bet you anything that Anna Wintour is the type of woman that hands out diet pills and raisins on Halloween. In contrast, Vogue Brazil's July issue will feature the hardest throwing....I mean the hardest working model in the business Naomi Campbell. To the best of my knowledge Naomi has appeared at least one other time on the cover of Brazilian Vogue. The only other black model that I've ever seen cover the magazine was Margareth Lahoussaye-Duvigny. Naomi's photos were snapped by David Bailey. This slideshow has a few of the interior pictures and Naomi's last cover for the magazine.
Sources: ferry coal, ego.globo, terra