Anna Wintour's Groundbreaking First Cover
Saturday, November 3, 2023
Yesterday, Anna Wintour celebrated her 74th birthday, so as promised on Thursday, we wanted to dedicate this issue to her. There is a lot to say about the fashion icon, and there are many significant moments that happened throughout her years at Vogue but today, let’s look closely at one particular episode that marked the history of Vogue - Anna’s very first cover for the November 1988 issue. Here is the story.
When Anna Wintour took the lead as Vogue’s editor-in-chief in 1988, replacing Grace Mirabella, she changed everything in the magazine – from the staff to Vogue’s vision, to how its front covers looked like.
Her first November 1988 issue featured on the cover a 19-year-old Israeli model Michaela Bercu in a $50 pair of faded Guess jeans and a bejeweled jacket by Christian Lacroix worth $10,000.
The cover-making was a series of unpredictable events. The shoot, photographed by Peter Lindbergh and styled by fashion editor Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, was originally intended to be for the editorial story inside the magazine, not the cover. In addition, the Christian Lacroix jacket was originally supposed to be paired with a matching skirt, but Anna found it “disgusting” and scrapped it on the day of the shoot. So, the jeans were a last-minute swap when Michaela Bercu couldn’t fit into the matching skirt.
This cover was revolutionary for several reasons.
ncG1vNJzZmifnJa6sK7SnqmvnaJjwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89oq6GdXau8qMHEZqmerp%2BhwrW1zqdkmqaelnq4tc2tpq6qow%3D%3D