Taylor Swift has worn archive Chanel on the cover of British Vogue to raise awareness of sustainability in fashion, the publication’s editor-in-chief has said.
On Monday 2 December, it was revealed that Swift had been chosen to star on the cover of British Vogue‘s January 2020 issue, which includes an interview between the singer and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
On the cover, which features the tagline: “New decade, new style”, the musician wears a cream tweed Chanel jacket from the French fashion house’s Métiers d’art Paris-New York 2005/2006 collection.
Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief of the magazine, explained his reasoning behind dressing Swift in the sophisticated attire.
“I wanted to put a vintage Chanel jacket on the cover of Vogue because I feel that, with the global climate crisis, we all have to do what we can to contribute to the conversation around sustainability,” he said.
“Buying better and buying less is what I believe in: investing in clothes that will last a lifetime, pieces that can be passed down from generation to generation.”
Enninful added that fashion “shouldn’t feel disposable”, as the best clothes that consumers want to wear over and over again should have “the quality of both design and craftsmanship to ensure their staying power”.
“That’s how I’ve always dressed, it’s just that, because I only wear black, you can never tell,” the former i-D fashion director said.
Enninful added that the Chanel jacket he chose for Swift is the “ultimate sign of luxury”, because it has “never gone out of fashion and it never will”.
The British Vogue editor-in-chief’s comments on sustainability in fashion echo similar sentiments recently voiced by American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
During an interview with Reuters, Wintour said she believes that people should not view clothes as “instantly disposable, things that you will throw away after just one reading”.
“[It’s all about] talking to our audiences, our readers, about keeping the clothes that you own, and valuing the clothes that you own and wearing them again and again, and maybe giving them on to your daughter, or son, whatever the case may be,” she stated.
