'I have an invisible disability myself': Edward Enninful and Sinéad Burke on their fashion revolution
British Vogue's May issue, Reframing Fashion, features 19 disabled people from across fashion, sport, activism and the arts. Five of them are cover stars: actress Selma Blair, who has multiple sclerosis; Sinéad Burke, disability activist and editor of the issue; models Ellie Goldstein and Aaron Rose Philip; and American Sign Language interpreter Justina Miles. Since Edward Enninful was named editor-in-chief in 2017, Vogue has taken a 180-degree turn: from the pronounced, even provocative homogeneity that was once its trademark to a magazine on the fringe of what can look representation and diversity in fashion.
Burke, meanwhile, came to fashion from the citizen side, writing a blog on industry accessibility and
the visibility of people with disabilities within it. Over the past five years, it has transformed into a global consultancy, Tilting the Lens.
Enninful and Burke's mission with Reframing Fashion goes back to the early Principles and Ask: What would a fashion shoot - or an image, or a magazine, or an industry, or a society - seem to have been designed not for people with disabilities, but with them? “We have this notion that disability is an invisible disability or a physical disability,” says Burke. “The reality is that we live in an aging society. We will all be disabled at some point in our lives. It's not about us. It's about all of us.
Tell me your fashion origin stories. How it all began ? Edward Enninful: I've been in the fashion press since I was 16. I started out as a model, but I knew that as an industry she was being left behind. When I started here, so many people I knew were like, "We don't watch Vogue, we don't see each other." That was all I needed to hear. My work has always been about diversity in all its forms; women of different sizes, ages, religions, socio-economic backgrounds.
Sinead Burke: I was training to be a teacher and they asked us to Create a blog. I created one on fashion. As a person with a physical disability and as a small person, I was always hungry for information. What does change look like? What does sustainability and accessibility look like, not as values, but as business initiatives? Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to attend fashion shows. People with disabilities have a skill set that is shaped by their experience. I've always been organized and articulate and tried to be considerate. These are skills I had to harness for my own independence.
British Vogue's May issue, Reframing Fashion, features 19 disabled people from across fashion, sport, activism and the arts. Five of them are cover stars: actress Selma Blair, who has multiple sclerosis; Sinéad Burke, disability activist and editor of the issue; models Ellie Goldstein and Aaron Rose Philip; and American Sign Language interpreter Justina Miles. Since Edward Enninful was named editor-in-chief in 2017, Vogue has taken a 180-degree turn: from the pronounced, even provocative homogeneity that was once its trademark to a magazine on the fringe of what can look representation and diversity in fashion.
Burke, meanwhile, came to fashion from the citizen side, writing a blog on industry accessibility and
the visibility of people with disabilities within it. Over the past five years, it has transformed into a global consultancy, Tilting the Lens.
Enninful and Burke's mission with Reframing Fashion goes back to the early Principles and Ask: What would a fashion shoot - or an image, or a magazine, or an industry, or a society - seem to have been designed not for people with disabilities, but with them? “We have this notion that disability is an invisible disability or a physical disability,” says Burke. “The reality is that we live in an aging society. We will all be disabled at some point in our lives. It's not about us. It's about all of us.
Tell me your fashion origin stories. How it all began ? Edward Enninful: I've been in the fashion press since I was 16. I started out as a model, but I knew that as an industry she was being left behind. When I started here, so many people I knew were like, "We don't watch Vogue, we don't see each other." That was all I needed to hear. My work has always been about diversity in all its forms; women of different sizes, ages, religions, socio-economic backgrounds.
Sinead Burke: I was training to be a teacher and they asked us to Create a blog. I created one on fashion. As a person with a physical disability and as a small person, I was always hungry for information. What does change look like? What does sustainability and accessibility look like, not as values, but as business initiatives? Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to attend fashion shows. People with disabilities have a skill set that is shaped by their experience. I've always been organized and articulate and tried to be considerate. These are skills I had to harness for my own independence.
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