When Edward Enninful became the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, few in the world of fashion wanted to confront how it failed to represent the world we live in. But Edward, a champion of inclusion throughout his life, rapidly changed that. A Visible Man traces his journey into one of the world’s most exclusive industries. Edward candidly shares how as a Black, gay, working-class refugee, he found in fashion not only a home, but the freedom to share with people the world as he saw it.
What The Reviewers Say
Black readers specifically — British, American, Ghanian or otherwise — will find Enninful’s experiences of racism relatable … It would be misguided to pick up this memoir in search of scoops about Enninful’s American Vogue counterparts. The author knows his story is his own, and he does not lean on gossip in charting his own rise … The industry insights are intriguing, but some of the most memorable and endearing passages in this book consist of Enninful’s more personal disclosures … He writes poignantly about his close relationship with his mother, his adoration of his siblings and his tense relationship with his father … The memoir truly shines in its most intimate revelations of Enninful’s sobriety and depression, of what it felt like to soar professionally while struggling personally — and of how he learned to lean on those who love him most.
Enninful…relaxes and settles into his remarkable story … Enninful, like many fashionistas, does tend to lack perspective. Being on a fashion shoot at midnight with a tired model and three looks to shoot is still not brain surgery … By and vast, though, the book rattles along, with a jolly selection of anecdotes about going clubbing in New York … His book is better than his interviews.
… lays bare the profit and loss sheet of Enninful’s workaholism and the decision calculus of his values in a way that will surely be of interest to any stylist, designer, or artist hoping to achieve something iconic and impactful in their chosen artistic field … In a series of eight chronological chapters, Enninful tells the story of his swerves as straightforwardly as possible. His voice is that of a normal human, sultry and smiling—a tremendously odd thing in the company of other greats like designers Diana Vreeland, Gurley Brown, or Anna Wintour. He is often willing to laugh at himself or his circumstances, mashing up gay campiness to cope with immigrant fish-out-of-water feelings … may have a lot to say about Enninful’s faults and the inroads he’s made into patterns of bad behavior, but it is not a tell-all.
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