Anna Wintour has spoken up about her 'controversial' decision to feature Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on the cover of American Vogue. Kim, who recently shocked the world with a racy photoshoot for Paper, posed with rapper husband Kanye for the cover of the April issue ahead of their highly-anticipated nuptials which took place earlier this year. The mother-of-one also modelled a range of haute couture wedding dresses for a spread in the magazine.
Anna Wintour compared Kim Kardashian to Madonna
The striking cover, shot by renowned fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz, sparked controversy as some of the magazine's fans believed that the Keeping up with the Kardashians star was not the right fit for the cover. "The first celebrity that I put on the cover of Vogue was Madonna, and that was considered completely controversial at that time too," the 65-year-old told CNN. "It's such a long time ago probably no one remembers, but she was a very controversial figure. Now she's part of the establishment." The British icon went on to add that she was not afraid to make bold decisions in order to keep up with current culture.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West tied the knot in Florence later in the year
"I think if we just remain deeply tasteful and just put deeply tasteful people on the cover, it would be a rather boring magazine," she revealed. "Nobody would talk about us. It's very important that people do talk about us." "I hope another Kim Kardashian comes along this year!" It's not the first time that Anna has spoken up about her decision to feature the reality television star.
The fashion icon previously addressed speculation that it was Kanye who had pushed for Kim to be featured, and that Anna had obliged. "You may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancée on Vogue's cover. He did nothing of the sort," she said in a statement. "The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn't true."
“There’s barely a strand of the modern media that the Kardashian Wests haven’t been able to master, and for good reason. Kanye is an amazing performer and cultural provocateur, while Kim, through her strength of character, has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight, and it takes real guts to do that.”