A pair of ruffed pages; three queens; a member of modeling royalty...as the October and November magazine covers made their debut, we were delighted to see blackness front, center and regal, as we should be. Vogue placed Jaden and Willow Smith and supermodel Jourdan Dunn atop its Italian and British covers, respectively, while Essence paid homage to the history-making moment of all three of this year’s national beauty queens being black with a seriously stylish trifecta cover, with all three queens wearing Dapper Dan for Gucci—and their crowns, of course.
Stylist and image architect Michaela Angela Davis styled the trio of queens for Essence’s cover, while legendary stylist Patti Wilson re-envisioned the Smith siblings as more than Hollywood royalty, giving a gothic touch to their already ethereal looks (hair by natural hair guru Vernon François).
And that’s not all: W magazine also featured Willow Smith this month and staged a Prada-heavy comeback for Frank Ocean for its “New Originals” issue. Meanwhile, Self features the enviably fit Mary J. Blige, interviewed by Jamilah Lemieux for her cover story about resilience, recovery and healing, styled by 2019 Root 100 honorees Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald.
Do you want more? The November covers are still making their big reveals, so stay tuned...in the meantime, we’ll be over here bopping to Blonde and “Be Without You.”