Words matter. These are the best Edward Enninful Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The funny thing is that the fashions from the ’90s seem to sit so well with the fashions of 2016. Everything from then somehow skipped and came back.
I think fashion can tell a story about celebrating difference, can talk about how different people are, how diverse people are – and for me, that’s where fashion really succeeds, when it tackles things to do with the world we live in.
You could say slowly but surely, the world is changing in a good way – equality in all forms is more and more part of the global conversation, and people are celebrating diversity and individuality.
People of power have to show empathy and kindness to the young.
I was really sheltered growing up, with six brothers and sisters. We played together all the time, and I was living in a fantasy world, like most creative people.
I don’t think I’m in any way an icon, to be very honest.
I’d never seen anything like it in my life. Someone so blatantly challenging the ideas of race and gender and sexuality. In a way, it was comparable to David Bowie, except that Prince brought that to the black community.
By people getting together and celebrating this idea of togetherness, great things can happen.
I grew up in west London, but my dad wouldn’t let me go to school there, so I went in south London.
I’m just propelled by insecurity; that’s what really leads me to want to do better.
My mother was a seamstress, so I always grew up with her making clothes. I knew how to construct outfits. I knew how to sketch. I knew how to customise. But I could never imagine it as a career.
I was very honoured to be awarded an OBE in 2016 for my services to diversity in the fashion industry.
When you start out in the industry and things are tough, and you’re not really making money, you question yourself: should I give up?
It was a whole new attitude: no makeup, less is more… the ’90s were fun!
There is nothing more classic in the realm of casual than jeans and a white tee – a look that is inherently Americana and reminiscent of the American Dream – an optimistic dream of opportunity, individuality, freedom, and the embodiment of one living their truth.
Never forget that it sometimes takes a foreigner’s eye to capture Britain most clearly.
I want ‘Vogue’ to feel like a shop that you’re not scared to walk into, one that’s quite welcoming.
My mother and father just taught me the basics: to be really kind, to really listen to people. I have never been one to put on airs and graces.
I didn’t know anything about the fashion industry until I met the stylist Simon Foxton on a Tube. I was 16, on my way to Kingsway College, and then my whole world opened up. Before that, like in every African family, you are meant to be a lawyer.
The more you style, the better you get. Don’t give up. At a certain point, the magic happens.
The best photographers know how to light any color skin.
When I was really young, I had an afro and wore pressed jeans and argyle sweaters. In my teens, I moved on to ripped Levi’s jeans, white T-shirts, and cowboy boots.
I can tell you, without diversity, creativity remains stagnant.
When I was growing up, David Bowie was my idol. I grew up in inner-city London, and he was from Brixton, which is even more urban.
I’m so fascinated by the influence of social media on fashion. I’ve seen so many artists on Instagram, up and comers you would have never known otherwise.
Growing up, I loved the imagery I saw from America as it celebrated being the land of the free and home of the brave.
I realise I am stepping into the shoes of a hugely respected editor in the shape of Alexandra Shulman, someone who has chosen to leave at the top of their game with a legacy of 25 years of success.
I get nervous before every shoot. I’m really jealous of the people that can just rest on their laurels and say, ‘I’m good; this is it.’
For me, fashion succeeds when it says something about the times we live in.
Prince was not scared. The first time I heard someone sing about AIDS, it was Prince: ‘In France, a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name.’ He was not afraid of taboos.
The fashion industry needs to breed a whole different way of thinking. We need more diverse people working in all facets of the industry.
I feel like when it comes to the models, certain models are now like commodities in certain ways.
If you put one model in a show or in an ad campaign, that doesn’t solve the problem. We need teachers in universities. We need internships. We need people of different ethnic backgrounds in all parts of the industry. That really is the solution: you have to change it from the inside.
I’m very protective of all the vulnerable young kids that go on shoots. I can empathize. I’ve been there.
I’ve learned to put a big value on having a life outside of fashion, and I think that’s what’s saved me, because the fashion industry can suck you in.
The white T-shirt is like a blank canvas – eternally versatile.
Coming from a family who put a lot of emphasis on academics, I always thought I was going to be a lawyer.
Most of the time, working as a stylist, you’re at home, working on your own, researching.
I love the optimistic American style that Gap celebrates and the simplicity of the basic white T-shirt that allows you to be yourself.
When I started in the nineties, a sample size was a 4 and a 6.
