Vogue’s April cover, hosting Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

Photo’s by Vogue Magazine

Vogue’s April cover, hosting Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, is undeniably the most controversial event in showbiz from recent years, apart from Miley Cyrus’s abrupt “coming of age”. The cover, photographed by famous portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz, features the headline “Kim & Kanye”, while the motto line is “Their fashionable life and surreal times”. At the bottom, the magazine awards the crown for “WorldsMostTalkedAboutCouple”.

The first shockwaves were felt on the internet, with Twitter immediately erupting with comments regarding the presence of the engaged couple on the cover of the most prestigious fashion magazine. Opposite sides were building-up, with many stars expressing their concern or approval regarding what has happened. The first blow came from Sarah Michelle Gellar who twitted: “Well……I guess I’m canceling my Vogue subscription. Who is with me??? ”. Buffy’s call to arms didn’t remain unheard, with a huge rally of negative feedback flooding Facebook and Twitter. It didn’t take long until a parody of the cover photo, featuring two of the Muppets, Kermit and Miss Piggy, was released. It didn’t end there, with James Franco recreating his very own Vogue cover, starring himself as Kanye and Seth Rogan as Kim.

Vogue is the French word for “in style” but many argue now that “vague” has become a better word to describe the policy adopted by the magazine. What happened to the real life Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour? What happened to previous criticism regarding the rise of the Kardashians? What happened to the expertise of one of the most prized and feared voices in fashion? Vogue has, after all, previously featured The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Sienna Miller, and more on its covers, and has oriented itself towards more celebrity-driven content. There is also a rumor that rapper Kanye West begged for the honor of having his girlfriend featured on the cover.

In the editor’s letter of the April issue, Wintour writes, “Part of the pleasure of editing Vogue, one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.” As for the stars of the shoot, Anna also stated, “Kanye is an amazing performer and cultural provocateur, while Kim, through her strength of character, has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight, and it takes real guts to do that.”

The sole drop of innocence in this ocean of controversy is probably the presence of the couple’s daughter North West, gracing her first ever official photo shoot for a magazine. Wait a minute, what name is that for a baby? Are they giving any directions with that?

With all the bad reception surrounding Kim’s, we can see that most of it was driven by envy. Who wouldn’t dream of being on the front cover of Vogue? After all, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West form the most prominent couple and are very successful in what they do. They are beautiful, famous, rich, and talented. Isn’t this the American Dream in all his glory?

Let’s face it. Kim Kardashian is beautiful, but in she is far away from the rigid standards imposed by the world of fashion. Her curvy, often fluctuating silhouette is at the opposite corner of what we see on catwalks. Could this mean that the age of skinny (better said anorexic) is coming to an abrupt end? A trend is very easy to set when it is first surrounded by controversy and prohibition. We all know the snowball effect and we also know that fashion adores change. With today’s most powerful and sharp weapon, social media, we could witness a cultural revolution that will rewrite the standard for what we think is beautiful.

Kardashian and West are constantly in the spotlight for one reason or another, with fresh new gossip floating around constantly. The Vogue cover comes as a preamble for the future wedding they are planning. However you put it, the story of the latest Vogue cover and the related scandal was providential for many newspapers and agencies. This is a story that sells.