The September cover of Vogue magazine will feature its first plus-size Asian American model and its first transgender woman model.
“There are limits to what ‘representation’ can do. Obviously, it’s a big deal being the first trans woman on the cover of Vogue, but it’s also hard to say exactly what kind of big deal it is when the effects are so intangible,” Ariel Nicholson, a biological male who identifies as female, said during an interview with the fashion magazine.
Nicholson and Yumi Nu, who appear on the September cover alongside models Kaia Gerber, Bella Hadid, Precious Lee, Anok Yai, Sherry Shi, and Lola Leon, announced their appearances on Instagram.
For Vogue’s September issue, eight American models representing a new generation in fashion sat down with Vogue.
Read how @KaiaGerber, @Anok_Yai, @PreciousLeeXOXO, @BellaHadid, Sherry Shi, Ariel Nicholson, Yumi Nu, and Lourdes Leon are shaping an industry https://t.co/vgj0mQMBmL pic.twitter.com/vF18DSFM36
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) August 5, 2021
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“I’m so excited to share my first American Vogue cover! September 2021. To have the opportunity to participate in the shifting landscape of fashion is a dream come true,” Nicholson said in a post Thursday.
Nu said she and Nicholson made “history” and that she was “incredibly proud” to have been chosen for the cover.
“I’m so incredibly proud to be on this cover with 7 incredible women showing range of different bodies, races and stories,” Nu posted Thursday. “WE ARE MAKING HISTORY FOR OUR COMMUNITIES TODAY.”
Nu, who previously appeared as the first Sports Illustrated Asian American curve model, explained her industry has a long way to go but that it had made progress in the past decade.
“I’m very proud for all the change I’m seeing in this industry… and it starts with things like this. We have ways to go still, but I want to take a second to celebrate the fact that this has always been my dream…and 10 years ago it wouldn’t have been possible for someone my size to be here,” she wrote. “I always thought I would have to change myself to have this opportunity. Well, here I am. ? We have come far and will continue the fight of going farther.”
Nu is glad to be a role model to the younger generation, she said in a separate statement to Vogue.
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“I cherish the platform I’ve been given, and it makes me happy — like, so happy — to know there are larger Asian-American girls who can look at me and see themselves,” she said. “But — I guess there’s a part of me that feels like … labels can be limiting. In an ideal world, maybe we wouldn’t have them.”
