Vogue sparks controversy for styling Kendall Jenner in an Afro

Vogue is once again being accused of cultural appropriation — this time, for a shoot starring Kendall Jenner wearing what appears to be an Afro.

Jenner, 22, models the hairstyle with a floral Brock Collection dress in a November story celebrating the 15th anniversary of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. But after the magazine posted a shot from the Mikael Jansson shoot on Instagram, angry followers flooded the comments section to ask why the publication didn’t simply hire a black model for the job.

“Why didn’t you get someone with an actual afro and freckles to model for you instead?” one social media user wrote. “If y’all wanted a model that didn’t look white y’all could’ve booked a girl of colour,” another pointed out.

And when a handful of commenters argued that black models often have their hair straightened or dyed for shoots, a user replied, “The discussion is more about the double standard that there is towards Afro hair and black culture. There are negative connotations surrounding actual black people who have this hair (or other things that are a part of black culture) however, conveniently when a white person does it it is suddenly ‘fashionable’ or en vogue. The thing about straight hair or blonde hair is that it’s already part of the western beauty standards ideal, so there’s no double standard.”

Vogue issued the following statement to Page Six: “The image is meant to be an update of the romantic Edwardian/Gibson Girl hair which suits the period feel of the Brock Collection, and also the big hair of the ’60s and the early ’70s, that puffed-out, teased-out look of those eras. We apologize if it came across differently than intended, and we certainly did not mean to offend anyone by it.”

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