‘It ended how I wanted it to end,” says Edward Enninful firmly, speaking a few days after his final issue as editor-in-chief of British Vogue hit the shelves. The parting cover is a paean to Enninful’s past, and his achievements at the magazine, featuring 40 iconic women he has worked with over the years, from Victoria Beckham to Oprah Winfrey, Dua Lipa and Anok Yai. But now his eyes are fixed on the future. His next venture is an unexpected move away from fashion and London – his take on Robert Mapplethorpe, in a show at Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in Paris.
Enninful declines to discuss a rumoured rift with Vogue supremo Anna Wintour – “I don’t comment on gossip, I never have” – but in his six and half years at the magazine, he set a string of precedents, including British Vogue’s first trans cover star, Paris Lees, and its oldest, an 85-year-old Judi Dench in June 2020. He was also behind the first braille and audio editions of the magazine.
