The Diary of a CEOEditor Of Vogue (Edward Enninful OBE): How To Become No.1 In Your Industry Against All The Odds!
CHAPTERS
- 2:00 – 12:00
Ghana: Military Base Childhood, Fearful Father, Creative Mother
Edward describes growing up on a military base in Takoradi, Ghana, with a strict army father and a creative, entrepreneurial seamstress mother. His mother’s atelier and his aunt’s salon exposed him early to clothes, women’s bodies, and magazines, planting the seeds for his love of fashion and women of all kinds, while his father’s authoritarianism filled him with fear and taught him to hide his artistic side.
- •Born in Takoradi, Ghana, on a military base with rigid rules.
- •Mother ran a 40‑woman atelier; he absorbed fitting, silhouettes, and women’s moods.
- •Exposure to Ebony, Jet, and Time at his aunt’s salon sparked his fascination with magazines.
- •Father’s disciplinarian style made him destroy his drawings out of fear.
- •He internalised the message that acceptable careers were doctor, lawyer, or engineer, not fashion.
- 12:00 – 27:00
Migration to Britain: Racism, Displacement, and Hiding Identity
At 13, Edward relocates to the UK amid political upheaval in Ghana and encounters racism and legal obstacles immediately on arrival. He grapples with being Black, immigrant, gay, and creatively inclined in Thatcher-era Britain, learning to shrink himself and stay invisible in order to survive.
- •Arrives at Gatwick, detained due to changed immigration rules; shocked that everyone around is white.
- •Lands in Vauxhall during Thatcher, sus laws, and Brixton Riots; feels unsafe leaving home.
- •Faces derogatory slurs at school but benefits from being placed in an all-Black school.
- •Realises early he is gay while hearing his father threaten to kill any gay person in the house.
- •Develops extreme shyness, low self-worth, and a habit of suppressing identity and talent.
- 27:00 – 37:00
Spotted on a Train: Modeling and Entry into Fashion
At 16, freshly liberated from thick glasses by hard contact lenses, Edward is scouted on a London Underground train by fashion editor Simon Foxton. Modeling introduces him to photo shoots and the collaborative joy of fashion, and he immediately senses that his place is behind the camera, not in front of it, even as he and his mother hide this new life from his father.
- •Gets contact lenses due to severe myopia; soon after is scouted on the Tube.
- •Mother initially resists ‘that industry’ but is eventually won over and even chaperones him.
- •Secretly balances school with castings and shoots, keeping it hidden from his father.
- •First shoot (e.g. Pepe Jeans) reveals a world of lights, teams, and creativity where he feels he belongs.
- •Begins interning with i-D Magazine while modeling, deepening his fascination with media.
- 37:00 – 50:00
i-D Magazine: Being Kicked Out, No Plan B, and Early Power
Edward briefly attends university to appease his father but leaves after three months when a lecturer tells him he’s already doing what students aspire to. Confessing this at home triggers a violent rejection that propels him out of the house permanently, just as he’s appointed fashion director at i-D at 18, forcing him into ‘no Plan B’ mode and an intense workaholic phase.
- •Leaves university after mentor says his real-world fashion work eclipses classroom learning.
- •Tells his father the truth; his belongings are thrown out the window and he vows never to return defeated.
- •Immediately steps into the role of fashion director at i-D at 18.
- •Lives with mentors and friends rent-free, supported by caring industry elders who spot his raw talent.
- •Becomes a ‘one-man army’: styling covers, writing, producing shoots, and learning every aspect of magazine-making.
- •Begins to replace his family with work and colleagues, while feeling like an imposter in a position of power.
- 50:00 – 1:02:00
Imposter Syndrome, Addiction, and Hitting Emotional Bottom
Despite rising influence, Edward is plagued by imposter syndrome and a sense of never belonging, driving him to overwork, self-critique, and self-medication. By the early 2000s his heavy drinking and drug use culminate in a crisis around a major fashion show, forcing him to confront the emptiness beneath his success.
- •Describes feeling like an imposter even as a young but powerful editor.
- •Perfectionism rooted in insecurity means he never sees his work as ‘amazing’; he always looks for flaws.
- •Treats work as identity and family, making any professional setback emotionally catastrophic.
- •Loneliness grows: he’s surrounded by people yet feels disconnected and empty.
- •Escapes via drinking, drugs, late nights, and nonstop motion until he loses his passport en route to a Dolce & Gabbana show.
- •Arrives at the embassy drunk, realises he’s ‘done’ with drinking, and reaches out for help.
- 1:02:00 – 1:12:00
Sobriety, AA, and Building a Spiritual Foundation
After deciding to quit alcohol, Edward embraces AA and spends around 14 years sober, discovering service, community, and a more grounded sense of self. Engaging with people far outside fashion broadens his perspective and equips him with tools to maintain his career without self-destruction.
- •Joins AA, experiences it as a profound leveler across class and profession.
- •Does service: making tea, working with homeless people, mentoring ‘sponsees’.
- •For the first time, regularly interacts with ‘regular’ people instead of only fashion elites.
- •Develops a spiritual outlook and a set of coping strategies that don’t rely on substances.
- •Credits sobriety and support relationships as foundational to sustaining later success and a long-term partnership.
- 1:12:00 – 1:28:00
Tribe, Loyalty, and Two Decades at i-D and Vogue Family
Edward explains the importance of finding his ‘tribe’ of Black creatives in fashion and his long tenures at i-D, Italian Vogue, American Vogue, and W. Loyalty to institutions that nurtured him and to peers who shared his experience of marginalisation becomes a core part of his identity and stability.
- •Forms a tight-knit group with Naomi Campbell, Pat McGrath, and others to navigate racism and tokenism.
- •Stays with i-D for over 20 years, valuing its culture and the loyalty of its founders.
- •Later spends seven years each at Italian Vogue, American Vogue (under Anna Wintour), and W Magazine.
- •Sees workplace as surrogate family after breaking from his biological family.
- •Recognises that while he was ‘the chosen one’ or ‘token’, he needed others like him around to survive.
- 1:28:00 – 1:42:00
Taking Over British Vogue: Redefining Beauty and Proving Diversity Sells
Approached to lead British Vogue after 26 years of previous leadership, Edward initially doubts that Vogue is for someone like him. He wins the role by pitching an inclusive, modern vision and executes it through covers and content that centre women of colour, different ages, and backgrounds, proving that diversity is creatively and commercially powerful despite racist pushback.
- •Head of Condé Nast invites him to interview to succeed a long-standing British Vogue editor.
- •Believes Vogue is for upper-class white women, not a Black, gay man from Ladbroke Grove.
- •Proposes an inclusive, diverse Vogue reflecting real British women across race, class, age, and sexuality.
- •Faces racist coverage likening his appointment to ‘a cat winning Crufts’ and is called names in the press.
- •First issue (Dec 2017) features Adwoa Aboah and a ‘Best of Britain’ theme, selling strongly.
- •Challenges the entrenched view that ‘Black women on covers don’t sell’, then proves it wrong with covers like Oprah’s that sell out.
- •Under his leadership British Vogue becomes both aesthetically renewed and ‘so financially successful’.
- 1:42:00 – 1:57:00
Lifelong Fight, Racist Incidents, and the Cost to Health
Edward recounts emblematic episodes of racism—even as Vogue’s editor—and reflects on how constant fighting takes a physical and psychological toll. Years of punishing work culminate in repeated retinal detachments and tinnitus, which nearly cost him his career and force a restructuring of his life.
- •Security at Vogue’s building once directs him to the loading bay, assuming he’s a delivery man, despite his being editor.
- •Similar earlier incident at a show placed him behind other fashion directors; he publicly challenged it.
- •These experiences remind him he can never be complacent and that the work of equality is ongoing.
- •Years of non-stop travel and sleep deprivation lead to four retinal detachments in one eye and surgery on the other.
- •Develops severe tinnitus and is diagnosed with PTSD due to constant fear of going blind.
- •Unable to work fully for about two years, but the industry doesn’t perceive it due to banked work.
- •Health crises lead him to scale back travel, refuse some jobs, and embrace a more stationary, sustainable role at British Vogue.
- 1:57:00 – 2:10:00
Grief, His Mother’s Legacy, and Therapy’s Practical Gifts
Edward explores the loss of his mother, the creative force who shaped his eye and values, and the regret of time lost to work. Therapy helps him honour her legacy by setting boundaries, becoming more empathetic, and learning to listen, rather than being consumed solely by achievement.
- •Mother’s stroke leads to a long decline; she dies in 2016 at age 44 for him.
- •Her lifestyle—overwork, poor self-care—becomes a cautionary example, especially as stroke runs in the family.
- •He regrets not spending more time with her, having assumed she’d live forever.
- •Urges others to see their parents as much as possible and mend bridges where they can.
- •Credits his mother with everything: love of fashion, color, women of all sizes, empathy, and nurturing others.
- •Therapy gives him tools: boundaries, better listening, more patience, and a less dismissive attitude to others’ ideas.
- 2:10:00 – 2:20:00
Standards, Talent, and Still Being a Work in Progress
Asked to define his talent and leadership style, Edward emphasises relentless standards, attention to detail, and the ability to see ‘diamonds in the raw’. He still sees himself as a work in progress in life, having skipped many conventional youth experiences, and now values who he works with and where he spends his time as much as what he produces.
- •Believes his sister would describe him as always in forward motion and unwilling to take no for an answer.
- •Obsessed with detail; believes ‘the devil’s in the details’ when creating on Vogue’s level.
- •Doesn’t expect everyone to share his intensity, but looks for potential in quiet, non-showy workers.
- •Judges hires partly by how he feels when they walk into his office: what energy and ideas they bring.
- •Considers himself successful professionally but ‘a work in progress’ in life, having missed typical university-age experiences while working.
- •New ‘ingredient’ in his happiness recipe is the willingness to leave places, jobs, or dinners where he doesn’t want to be.
- 2:20:00
Advice, Love, and Imagining a Different Past
In closing, Edward offers advice to younger people about boundaries, ignoring naysayers, and constantly asking ‘why’. He pays tribute to his husband Alek, whose grounded presence kept him in the industry and taught him to be more human, and imagines an alternate life working at pioneering Black magazine Ebony under Eunice W. Johnson.
- •To his 18‑year‑old self: don’t give everything to work; build self-love and take breaks, even though he admits he wouldn’t have listened.
- •To the 30‑year‑old host: don’t take no for an answer, ignore distractions and doubters, keep manifesting your path, and always ask ‘why’ institutions do things a certain way.
- •Describes his husband as his ‘home’ and safe space who keeps him accountable, critiques his work honestly, and would not let him quit.
- •Says without Alek, he might not want to keep doing what he does.
- •If he could join any past company, he’d work alongside Eunice W. Johnson at Ebony in the 1940s–50s, acknowledging her as a trailblazer who bought couture for Black audiences when fashion houses wouldn’t lend it.
