Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is featured on the February 2021 cover of Vogue, but controversy over the cover photo selected has overshadowed the magazine’s debut. The cover photo, which began circulating on social media late Saturday, shows Harris with her arms crossed in a dark suit and her signature Converse sneakers in front of a pink and green back – an ode to Harris’ student club Alpha Kappa Alpha.
The magazine later released an additional photo, a portrait of Harris in a powder blue suit, which a source familiar with the photo shoot told CBS News was the agreed-upon image to be displayed as the cover.
Harris and Vogue’s assistants had understood that the blue color / gold background would be the cover photo. Without telling Harris’ team, Vogue turned it into the pink / green photo that the elected vice president’s team disagrees with used to be.” the source said.
Another source described Harris’ team as “blind” when the cover was released.
According to the source, an image of Harris in her Converse sneakers was originally intended to be used as a smaller photo that would appear in the actual Vogue story.
Both photos in question were taken by renowned photographer Tyler Mitchell. Mitchell, 26, became the magazine’s first African-American photographer to create a Vogue cover in the magazine’s more than 125-year history when he photographed singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter for the September 2018 issue.
A Mitchell representative did not respond to a request for comment, but he tweeted the powder blue suit cover.
“The Vogue team loved the images Tyler Mitchell created and felt the more casual picture of the authentic, approachable nature of Vice President-elect Harris – which we believe is one of the hallmarks of the Biden / Harris administration,” said one. Vogue spokesperson to CBS News, adding, “To respond to the gravity of this moment in history and the role she must play in moving our country forward, we are celebrating both images of her and covers digitally.”
In addition, a source said that both Harris’s team and the magazine “worked closely together in all creative decisions.”
For Harris, who made history in November when she became the first black and South Asian American to be elected vice president, the cover of Vogue was meant to send a message to young people of color.
“There are not many black women, let alone black and South Asian women, who adorn the covers of these high-end magazines,” a well-known source told CBS News. “[For Harris], it was important for young men and women, people of color, to see that this is possible. “
Written by Alexis Okeowo, the story features an interview with Harris and follows Harris in Pennsylvania during one of her final days of campaigning on the Monday before Election Day.
This isn’t the first time Vogue has come under fire for the way it photographed people of color. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the magazine, admitted in a company-wide internal memo in the summer of 2020: “ I want to say clearly that I know Vogue hasn’t found enough ways to elevate and give space to black editors. , writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We also made mistakes by publishing images or stories that were hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes. “
After the cover first appeared online on Saturday evening, there was a number of angry reactions, including from some media personalities.
Danielle Garrand contributed to this report.