Why a Vogue cover caused controversy for Olena Zelenska

Another season, another Vogue story about a scandal-mongering politician. After the scandal over the magazine not giving Melania Trump a cover (even though Michelle Obama got three) and the to-do over Kamala Harris’s “relaxed” portrait being chosen over her more formal cover attempt, comes a new controversy involving “digital cover” released online, featuring Olena Zelenska, the Ukrainian first lady.

Titled “Portrait of Courage,” the article is a collaboration between Condé Nast Vogues (almost all of them) and Ukrainian Vogue (a licensed magazine owned by Media Group Ukraine).

There are brooding, graceful portraits of Ms. Zelenska by Annie Leibovitz: seated on the marble steps of the presidential palace, staring grimly ahead; holding hands with her husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky; and stands next to female soldiers at Antonov Airport, clutching the lapels of a long navy coat. The photos are accompanied by a lengthy interview and some BTS footage of the first couple and Ms. Leibovitz. It will appear in print later this year.

Unlike Ms Zelensky’s first Ukrainian Vogue cover, which appeared in November 2019 shortly after Mr Zelensky was elected, which showed the first lady walking with her family and styled in Celine , Prada, Lemaire and Jimmy Choo, the new feature avoids fashion credits. Ms. Zelenska appears polished, but the story focuses on the pain and trauma of her country and her people, as well as the couple’s relationship. Neither subject is smiling.

A line below one photo notes that Ms. Zelenska wears all-Ukrainian designers and lists their names. This may seem like a small thing to most viewers, but it takes the commercial element out of the photos. Whatever he’s selling – and he’s definitely selling something – it’s not clothes.

However (and not surprisingly), the article provoked something of a backlash. Some viewers have a gut reaction to the juxtaposition of the idea of ​​Vogue—with its historical associations with elitism, fantasy, wealth, and frivolity—with the reality of war. It looks, they say, tasteless. Especially considering some of the magazine’s mistakes in the past.

For example, in 2011 a disturbingly flattering profile of Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad was published, just as Mrs. al-Assad’s husband, Bashar al-Assad, was being exposed as a bloody dictator. (The article, which made the magazine appear morally compromised in the face of fantasy, was later removed from Vogue’s website, though it still casts a shadow over Vogue’s coverage, especially when it comes to political figures.)

“While Ukraine goes through hell, Vogue does a photoshoot for the president and his wife,” wrote Amrita Bhinder on Twitter.

Representative Mayra Flores, a Texas Republican, took the opportunity to attack the Biden administration over its financial support for Ukraine, implying that it was funding the vanity. Breitbart wrote a gleeful article summarizing the criticisms, especially regarding government funding.

Still, other readers came to Ms. Zelenska’s defense, seeing the photos as a symbol of national pride: a means to show the world Ukrainian elegance; a reminder of the balm to be found in beauty; and a subtle nod to shared humanity in the face of inhuman aggression. She’s not in a ball gown and eating cake, though. She is in a war zone and seems possessed.

To some extent, the debate simply shows how twisted our feelings about fashion still are, and how entrenched the view of it as a frivolous subject remains – despite the fact that fashion is a key part of pop culture and the rare equivalent of a global language. This is something that every politician and public figure uses for their own ends, whether they want to admit it or not. (Which is why, despite the risks, they continue to appear in magazines like Vogue.)

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is a war that is being fought on all fronts: on the ground, in the air, in the digital sphere and in the arena of public opinion. (See, for example, Ms. Zelenska’s appearance in Washington last week.) Vogue — and indeed any publication that allows the Ukrainian people to reach different segments of the world population and influence sentiment — is one of them. As Ms. Zelenska and her husband, who founded one of Ukraine’s largest TV entertainment production companies before entering politics, know.

By putting Ms. Zelenska on its cover, Vogue reinforces her role as the face and voice of the struggle; bringing her up close and personal for the watching world. And by appearing publicly and raising issues publicly when her husband cannot, she keeps her country’s needs alive in the international conversation at a time when other crises vie for attention. She’s basically a Vogue weapon.

She said as much to BBC when one of the interviewers asked her to explain the choice: “Millions read Vogue and to be able to speak directly to them, it was my duty,” she said, adding: “I believe it’s more important to do something and be criticized for this than doing nothing.

Whatever you think of the actual material, however you feel about the magazine it’s published in, you can’t dispute the fact that it has put the war in Ukraine back in the headlines – and in the minds of people who may not have been following it as carefully as the others. In this context, her interview is not just an interview. It’s part of a battle strategy.