Edward Enninful was born in Ghana and moved with his family to London when he was still a young child. He had a natural flair for fashion and when he was around 16 years old he was discovered riding the train by photographer Nick Knight and consequently modelled for him in i-D magazine. The amazing part of the story comes next: a mere 2 years later in 1991, Edward was employed by that very same magazine as their Fashion Director. In doing so he became the youngest ever Fashion Director of an international magazine that the world had ever seen, a record that has still not been beaten to this day.
Perhaps even more remarkable is that 17 years later – (almost half his lifetime!) – Edward is still their Fashion Director and has helped to take the magazine to the dizzying heights it now exists at: one of the undisputed top international fashion + lifestyle magazines in the world.
What should be hastily added is that while I-D’s profile has risen, the magazine has always kept it’s feet on the ground and has never lost touch with what is going on with the streets or kids today. This is in a huge part down to Enninful’s influence – who has remained consistently tuned-in to street culture, connecting with not just fashion but the art and music scenes around him in London and also New York – and bringing that into edgy covers and fashion shoots that mean i-D has never been in danger of losing it’s underground edge.
Enninful is now considered one of the top stylists in the world and is always in-demand. He splits his time between London and New York, and somehow finds the time to also be Contributing Editor for Italian, American and L´uomo Vogue. He has helped to make Kate Moss the star she is cultivating a special working relationship between her and i-D throughout the 90’s and noughties. Naomi Campbell is also a model who he has consistently worked with over the years to create some truly jaw-droppingly fantastic shoots.
Enninful was also behind the recent smash-hit success of Italia Vogue’s ‘Black’ issue, which sold out everywhere and in fact had to be re-printed and many say has changed the industry forever.
He also works on styling runway shows and international advertising campaigns for a client list that is longer than Naomi’s weave but to mention a few: Dolce + Gabanna, Lanvin and Missoni.
Lexposure.net managed to track down possibly The Busiest Man in Fashion for this exclusive interview. Enjoy!
Your ‘record’ of making it to Fashion Editor of an international magazine aged 18 has never been beaten – when you look back now, what do you think were the key things that got you that job, and what was going through your head at the time?
At that point in time the fashion industry was a different place – it was less saturated …… and obviously part of it was down to fate!
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