Edward Enninful Quotes

I didn't grow up with money; I didn't come from a rich family. But what fashion gave me was an escape into a world of creativity: if I couldn't afford that Junior Gaultier jacket, then I'd get one from the market and customise it.

- Edward Enninful

Me, World, Get, Jacket

The white T-shirt is like a blank canvas - eternally versatile.

- Edward Enninful

Canvas, Blank Canvas, Blank, Versatile

I was very honoured to be awarded an OBE in 2016 for my services to diversity in the fashion industry.

- Edward Enninful

Diversity, Very, Awarded, Honoured

I grew up reading 'British Vogue' - I am so honoured and humbled to be taking up the mantle of editor.

- Edward Enninful

Reading, British, Editor, Honoured

There is nothing more classic in the realm of casual than jeans and a white tee - a look that is inherently Americana and reminiscent of the American Dream - an optimistic dream of opportunity, individuality, freedom, and the embodiment of one living their truth.

- Edward Enninful

American, Jeans, Inherently, Embodiment

When I was 18 years old, I moved into Neneh Cherry's house in Kensal Rise with Judy Blame and our friend Michael Boadi.

- Edward Enninful

Cherry, Old, Moved, Judy

I am definitely allergic to wheat. Every time I eat it, I feel awful.

- Edward Enninful

Feel, I Feel, Awful, Wheat

If you put one model in a show or in an ad campaign, that doesn't solve the problem. We need teachers in universities. We need internships. We need people of different ethnic backgrounds in all parts of the industry. That really is the solution: you have to change it from the inside.

- Edward Enninful

Inside, Show, Industry, Ad Campaign

The fashion industry needs to breed a whole different way of thinking. We need more diverse people working in all facets of the industry.

- Edward Enninful

Need, Needs, Different Way, Fashion Industry

I didn't know anything about the fashion industry until I met the stylist Simon Foxton on a Tube. I was 16, on my way to Kingsway College, and then my whole world opened up. Before that, like in every African family, you are meant to be a lawyer.

- Edward Enninful

College, Before, About, Fashion Industry

I've learned to put a big value on having a life outside of fashion, and I think that's what's saved me, because the fashion industry can suck you in.

- Edward Enninful

Think, Big, I Think, Fashion Industry

I like to play with contrast. It's about changing people's perceptions of people.

- Edward Enninful

Play, Contrast, Like, Perceptions

I don't think everything has to be new all the time. You don't have to have the latest designer all the time to look good. Just have things you're comfortable with, have key pieces that you can sort of reinvent over and over again, and always keep things that you really love for a while.

- Edward Enninful

Love, Reinvent, While, Key

When I started in the nineties, a sample size was a 4 and a 6.

- Edward Enninful

Size, Started, Nineties, Sample

When I was really young, I had an afro and wore pressed jeans and argyle sweaters. In my teens, I moved on to ripped Levi's jeans, white T-shirts, and cowboy boots.

- Edward Enninful

Cowboy, Young, Sweaters, Ripped

I felt like I grew up with Bowie. I never dressed like him, even though I did love the music, but consistently throughout my career he has been a go-to reference point: The suit from 'Young Americans,' or the gold Missoni-type looks of Ziggy Stardust. 'The Berlin Years' still influences me.

- Edward Enninful

Love, Career, Been, Young Americans

I am black in a predominantly white industry, and I have been luckier than most.

- Edward Enninful

I Am, Been, Most, Luckier

By people getting together and celebrating this idea of togetherness, great things can happen.

- Edward Enninful

Happen, Idea, Getting, Celebrating

I think fashion can tell a story about celebrating difference, can talk about how different people are, how diverse people are - and for me, that's where fashion really succeeds, when it tackles things to do with the world we live in.

- Edward Enninful

Tell, Succeeds, I Think, Celebrating

You could say slowly but surely, the world is changing in a good way - equality in all forms is more and more part of the global conversation, and people are celebrating diversity and individuality.

- Edward Enninful

More, Could, Surely, Celebrating

There's a lot of research and time that goes into my shoots. I spend weeks on them, even for one picture.

- Edward Enninful

Goes, Them, Weeks, Shoots

I'm very protective of all the vulnerable young kids that go on shoots. I can empathize. I've been there.

- Edward Enninful

Young, Been, Very, Shoots

I want 'Vogue' to feel like a shop that you're not scared to walk into, one that's quite welcoming.

- Edward Enninful

Want, Like, Shop, Welcoming

I'm so fascinated by the influence of social media on fashion. I've seen so many artists on Instagram, up and comers you would have never known otherwise.

- Edward Enninful

Media, Social, Otherwise, Social Media

Social media is fine, depending on how you use it.

- Edward Enninful

How, Social, Depending, Social Media

I've always been very fascinated by technology - the Internet, social media.

- Edward Enninful

Always, Been, Very, Social Media

Social media and technology are democratising and opening up fashion and the process of fashion for all - this has good and bad sides, but that comes with any change.

- Edward Enninful

Process, Bad, Social, Social Media

Being an immigrant and living in England, I feel like I lived in two worlds. There was the world that, when I was at school with my friends, was very English, and then I'd go home to another country, with exotic foods and colours. I have a sense of colour pairings, and that came from my background, I think.

- Edward Enninful

Country, I Think, Very, Exotic

Growing up, I loved the imagery I saw from America as it celebrated being the land of the free and home of the brave.

- Edward Enninful

America, Being, Saw, Celebrated

Prince was not scared. The first time I heard someone sing about AIDS, it was Prince: 'In France, a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name.' He was not afraid of taboos.

- Edward Enninful

Big, Disease, About, Scared

I'm very proud of the world that's embracing all these different ideas of what it is to be diverse, in 2017.

- Edward Enninful

Proud, Very, Different Ideas, Embracing

I'm really excited to see my vision for the 'British Vogue' team come to fruition.

- Edward Enninful

Vision, Excited, See, Vogue

My 'Vogue' is about being inclusive; it's about diversity. Showing different women, different body shapes, different races, class. To be tackling gender.

- Edward Enninful

Gender, Inclusive, Tackling, Vogue

'British Vogue' is a great magazine with a legacy of creativity and innovation.

- Edward Enninful

Innovation, Legacy, British, Vogue

Kurt Cobain really made an impression on us. He just had that rebel attitude. You could tell he was super talented but didn't really care.

- Edward Enninful

Rebel, Made, Could, Kurt

I realise I am stepping into the shoes of a hugely respected editor in the shape of Alexandra Shulman, someone who has chosen to leave at the top of their game with a legacy of 25 years of success.

- Edward Enninful

Game, Editor, Hugely, Respected

When I was growing up, David Bowie was my idol. I grew up in inner-city London, and he was from Brixton, which is even more urban.

- Edward Enninful

London, More, Which, Bowie

I'd never seen anything like it in my life. Someone so blatantly challenging the ideas of race and gender and sexuality. In a way, it was comparable to David Bowie, except that Prince brought that to the black community.

- Edward Enninful

My Life, Gender, Brought, Bowie

Music, for me, is as important as fashion. The first visuals I remember are Elvis Presley, David Bowie, New Romantics, and different punk bands.

- Edward Enninful

New, I Remember, Visuals, Bowie

It was a whole new attitude: no makeup, less is more... the '90s were fun!

- Edward Enninful

Makeup, New, More, Less Is More

In my work, I have always tried to push the boundaries of what fashion can do.

- Edward Enninful

Work, Always, Tried, Push

My memories of London Fashion Week are of starting out and not getting many tickets for fashion shows, but wanting to see them so much that I'd sneak in with my friends, people like Pat McGrath and Craig McDean.

- Edward Enninful

London, Week, Wanting, Craig

Coming from a family who put a lot of emphasis on academics, I always thought I was going to be a lawyer.

- Edward Enninful

Thought, Always, Going, Lawyer

My mother and father just taught me the basics: to be really kind, to really listen to people. I have never been one to put on airs and graces.

- Edward Enninful

Basics, Mother And Father, Graces

I get nervous before every shoot. I'm really jealous of the people that can just rest on their laurels and say, 'I'm good; this is it.'

- Edward Enninful

Rest, Say, Before, Shoot

I grew up in an African household, so lots of chicken, lots of rice. We ate Jollof rice, a very West African dish.

- Edward Enninful

Chicken, Rice, Very, Household

My mother was a seamstress, so I always grew up with her making clothes. I knew how to construct outfits. I knew how to sketch. I knew how to customise. But I could never imagine it as a career.

- Edward Enninful

Career, Always, Making, Outfits

Never forget that it sometimes takes a foreigner's eye to capture Britain most clearly.

- Edward Enninful

Eye, Never, Most, Never Forget

I can't just go in and throw clothes at a picture. I still have to have some kind of an idea of a character, of who she is, where she's from. It's almost like playing a child's game. You have your dolls, and you create characters for them. Fashion indulged that in me.

- Edward Enninful

Game, Some, Almost, Dolls

Most of the time, working as a stylist, you're at home, working on your own, researching.

- Edward Enninful

Working, Own, Most, Stylist

I love the optimistic American style that Gap celebrates and the simplicity of the basic white T-shirt that allows you to be yourself.

- Edward Enninful

Love, Simplicity, American, Basic

I can tell you, without diversity, creativity remains stagnant.

- Edward Enninful

Diversity, Tell, Remains, Stagnant

I feel like when it comes to the models, certain models are now like commodities in certain ways.

- Edward Enninful

Feel, Like, Models, Commodities

With Rihanna, it's always a collaboration, and that's why I love her so much.

- Edward Enninful

Love, Always, I Love, Rihanna

The best photographers know how to light any color skin.

- Edward Enninful

Light, Color, How, Photographers

For me, fashion succeeds when it says something about the times we live in.

- Edward Enninful

Me, Succeeds, Times, Fashion

When you start out in the industry and things are tough, and you're not really making money, you question yourself: should I give up?

- Edward Enninful

Question, Give, Making, Making Money

I used to wear a lot of Helmut Lang. Painted jeans. Cropped crombies with t-shirts. A lot of V-necks. The perfect V-neck was very important.

- Edward Enninful

Perfect, Very, Painted, Jeans

I take random inspiration from everywhere.

- Edward Enninful

Random, Inspiration, Take, Everywhere

I'm just propelled by insecurity; that's what really leads me to want to do better.

- Edward Enninful

Better, Want, Leads, Insecurity

I grew up in west London, but my dad wouldn't let me go to school there, so I went in south London.

- Edward Enninful

London, South, Dad, West

The more you style, the better you get. Don't give up. At a certain point, the magic happens.

- Edward Enninful

Magic, Give, More, Certain Point

I don't think I'm in any way an icon, to be very honest.

- Edward Enninful

Think, Honest, Very, Icon

I think if you're really good at what you do, you can see outside the box.

- Edward Enninful

Think, See, I Think, Box

A lot of my friends, we all grew up sort of not very wealthy. And in England, whatever ends up being a negative, that's a positive.

- Edward Enninful

England, Wealthy, Very, Negative

The funny thing is that the fashions from the '90s seem to sit so well with the fashions of 2016. Everything from then somehow skipped and came back.

- Edward Enninful

Back, Funny Thing, Then, Fashions

I come from a family who didn't have much money but raised me to believe that money wasn't the most important thing in the world. We had enough; we were happy.

- Edward Enninful

Happy, The Most Important, Had Enough

You never know where inspiration is going to come from.

- Edward Enninful

Never, Know, Going, Inspiration

I was really sheltered growing up, with six brothers and sisters. We played together all the time, and I was living in a fantasy world, like most creative people.

- Edward Enninful

Living, Fantasy, Six, Creative People

Diversity is very important for me.

- Edward Enninful

Me, Important, Very, Diversity

A queen does not wear clothes off the runways.

- Edward Enninful

Clothes, Wear, Does, Queen

People of power have to show empathy and kindness to the young.

- Edward Enninful

Power, Young, Show, Empathy

I learned that fashion was about more than fancy images. That there was a business side as well.

- Edward Enninful

Business, Side, Images, Fancy

When you leave your house in the morning, however you dress is the way you want the world to see you.

- Edward Enninful

World, See, However, Dress

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