Key Points
- British Vogue’s Reframing Fashion: Dynamic, Daring & Disabled issue was years in the making.
- The May edition brings the stories and faces of people living with disabilities to the forefront.
- British Vogue collaborated with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to produce an audio and braille version of the issue
British Vogue should create a welcoming space for people with disabilities, the editor has said, ahead of the publication of the May issue, featuring five disabled cover stars.
They include activist Sinéad Burke, actor Selma Blair, models Aaron Rose Philip and Ellie Goldstein and sign language performer Justina Miles who interpreted Rihanna's Super Bowl half-time show.
The fashion magazine has put the stories of 19 disabled people at the forefront of their Reframing Fashion: Dynamic, Daring & Disabled issue, aiming to provide better representation of the diverse disability community in the UK.
How the latest British Vogue cover is a fashion project years in the making
The project was years in the making, with the original idea coming in 2018, the year after Edward Enninful became the British Vogue editor-in-chief.
Mr Enninful, who lives with a chronic blood disorder and experiences issues with his sight and hearing, said the project “felt personal”.
“The time has come for us to get real about who we are as a society, and for fashion to build a better, more accessible and inclusive industry,” he wrote in British Vogue.
Speaking to the BBC about the issue, he added: "My tenure here at Vogue has always been about inclusivity and diversity, and people forget how hard it is for the disabled community.
"We want to carry this on and for people to see Vogue is taking that step... We're not perfect, but we have to create this welcoming space.
"When this issue comes out, I hope a lot of disabled people will look at it and say, not only can I see myself on the pages of Vogue, but also in fashion."
Editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful. Source: Getty, AFP / Patrick T. Fallon
In 2019, Sinéad Burke became the first person with dwarfism to appear on the cover of Vogue. She wrote in her introduction to British Vogue’s May 2023 issue that the new edition was an “opportunity to expand definitions of beauty and agency”.
“Our shared ambition was to create a disability-focused cover story with and for the Disabled community, one made with the understanding it would put in place benchmarks and processes that would be embedded across the company indefinitely,” she said.
“What we created on set felt so important, but we knew it was a start, not a destination.”
Addressing ableism and accessibility for people living with disabilities
Sinéad Burke is also the chief executive of accessibility consultancy Tilting the Lens, which has been working with British Vogue to ensure photography studios are disability accessible.
Such measures included quiet rooms, moveable clothing rails and alterable make-up chairs.
Ms Burke highlighted the importance of understanding different people’s needs and said accessibility and inclusion required a combined effort.
“Accessibility and disability inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and opportunity,” she said.
“This is a movement, not a moment. And it involves all of us.”
The edition also features the UK’s first blind and black female barrister, Jessika Inaba, and details some of her experiences such as using braille to read legal documents.
British Vogue also collaborated with Royal National Institute of Blind People to produce a braille and audio version of the May issue, which will be available from 5 May.
