American Vogue has apologized for styling Kendall Jenner in an ‘afro’ for a November 2018 editorial. Kendall, 22, was dragged into a ‘cultural appropriation’ backlash on Friday after readers suggested a white model should not be modelling a black hairstyle in a photoshoot posted on Instagram. The publication has now issued a statement confirming that no offence was intended by the picture, which was intended to draw inspiration from the Edwardian era. A representative told E! News: ‘The image is meant to be a 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 70’s, that puffed-out, teased-out look of those eras. ‘We apologise if it came across differently than intended, and we certainly did not mean to offend anyone by it.’
When it went up on Friday, some commenters used Vogue’s Instagram post to air their frustrations about the use of a hairstyle that they considered ‘afro’ hair on catwalk star Kendall. ‘Very disrespectful,’ one said. ‘Just hire a natural black woman.’ ‘Meanwhile us with Afro can’t get the job!’ another argued.
One other added: ‘Whitewashing pop culture, one magazine cover at a time.’ Nevertheless, many of the commenters encouraged Vogue not to apologise for a ‘beautiful’ and ‘natural’ fashion photo. Kendall is yet to comment on Vogue’s shoot, styled by Tonne Goodman, for the November 2018 issue. She previously struggled to bounce back from accusations that her 2017 Pepsi advert ‘trivialised’ the Black Lives Matter protest.