In fashion, Black editors make up an exclusive club

Next week, Chioma Nnadi will start her new role as British Vogue’s head of editorial content, the first time in British Vogue’s 107-year history that its top editor will be a Black woman. She replaces the magazine’s first Black male editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, who is leaving the post after six years.

Nnadi joined American Vogue in 2010 as a fashion news writer, working her way up the masthead to becoming the top editor of Vogue.com in September 2020.

“I’m beyond excited and honored to have been appointed as British Vogue’s Head of Editorial Content,” Nnadi said in a statement. “As someone who was born and raised in London, the energy of the city — its boundary-pushing style and creative scene — has shaped the way I look at the world. Now, more than ever, it feels like a moment to look beyond borders while also celebrating the broad scope of what it means to be British.”

With her new position, the British-born Nnadi joins a small club of Black editors-in-chief at major fashion publications. Here are five others who have made it to fashion’s highest pinnacle: the top of the masthead.

Samira Nasr was named editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar in June 2020, making her the first Black woman to hold that title in the magazine’s then 153-year history. Before taking the head job at Bazaar, she was the executive fashion director at Vanity Fair. Before then, she worked as fashion director at Elle magazine and style director for InStyle. She got her start as an assistant to Vogue’s former creative director, Grace Coddington.

In January 2021, Ib Kamara was appointed editor-in-chief of Dazed magazine, after then-editor-in-chief Isabella Burley stepped down. He had been senior fashion editor-at-large at i-D magazine. He is currently the creative director of the late Virgil Abloh’s fashion label Off/White and has worked as a stylist for System, Vogue Italia, AnOther and Luncheon.

Lindsay Peoples took over as editor-in-chief at New York magazine’s The Cut in January 2021 after Stella Bugbee stepped down. Peoples joined the magazine from Teen Vogue, where she was editor-in-chief. Before Teen Vogue, Peoples worked at The Cut as a fashion market editor. Her 2018 piece, Everywhere and Nowhere, highlighted the experiences of Black people working in the fashion industry.

In December 2021, Hearst UK announced Kenya Hunt as editor-in-chief at Elle UK. Previously, Hunt had been Deputy Editor at Grazia and Deputy Editor at Elle UK. Her book, Girl Gurl Grrrl: On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic, was published in 2020.

Nikki Ogunnaike was named editor-in-chief at Marie Claire in June. She came to Marie Claire from Harper’s Bazaar, where she had been the senior digital director. She began her career at Vanity Fair and then moved on to positions at InStyle, Glamour, Elle.com, and GQ.