There Goes Vogue Putting Kendall Jenner in an Afro. Sigh.

Photo: Courtesy of Vogue

Hasn’t Vogue learned a thing about cultural appropriation since the whole Karlie Kloss as geisha debacle of 2017? I guess not. We’ll call this one the great Kendall Jenner Afro faux-pas of 2018.

Here’s the latest on Vogue’s mishaps with race: In their November 2018 issues the magazine photographed Kendall Jenner wearing an Afro in several images. Rightfully so, people on social media are not happy about it.

The photos were part of the shoot in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. They were taken by Mikael Jansson, and are featured both in print and on Vogue’s website.

Kendall Jenner afro — Photographed by Mikael Jansson, Vogue, November 2018

Here are some of the highlights from the comments right after Vogue posted the image on their Instagram account.

There are dozens of similar comments accusing Vogue of Black cultural appropriation and the fact that Black women are rarely hired. To be fair, one of the images of the shoot does feature Imaan Hammam, a Dutch model of Egyptian and Moroccan descent, and she is also wearing an Afro in one of the photos.

Vogue did issue a statement following the uproar on social:

“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 did not mean to offend anyone by it.”

Hmm, I call BS, Vogue. Here are a thousand versions of an Edwardian hair style. Yes, the style is teased but also pulled back. Kendall is wearing an “updated” Afro, and that’s the truth. Do better, Vogue!