So, about that all-black issue of Italian Vogue: If you landed yourself a copy, you're one of the lucky few. "Even in New York City the few newsstands that carry the issue were sold out (one newsstand went through 400 copies) within hours. There were waiting lists and prepaid orders. Many of the customers, according to newsstand staffers I talked to bought all four-cover versions as keepsakes. At $16 a copy (one newsstand wanted to charge me $20 to prepay for his next batch expected in) it was a Circulation Directors' fantasy come true." One of our own editors is bidding on eBay for her copy.

But while the issue may have featured all black models, the magazine's publisher obviously didn't have enough time to have the ad pages reflect the editorial. Because next to the fashion spreads of Lily Taylor and Alek Wek, beauty products and designer labels were being plugged by a bunch of white girls.

According to the Telegraph, "the move (to create an issue dedicated to black models) is in reaction to recent anger over the reluctance of fashion magazines to feature black models on their covers. Many industry insiders claim black girls are not used because they just 'do not sell.'"

It seems that Italian Vogue proved smart U.S. marketers wrong.

Beverly Smith, a fashion celebrity lifestyle expert and former International Fashion Director at Vibe comments that the issue is a great thing for the models and industry. She says, although there were no ads featuring black models the opportunity for the models is to take advantage of the moment and "make it work!" The glaring starkness of ads with no black models in the issue is the black and white reality of the opportunities for black models in the industry and tells the story better than anything else could. Hopefully, advertisers will see the missed branding and revenue opportunity in ignoring the power of these talented women.

One caveat: Smith may be wrong. Supposedly there is at least one ad in the magazine featuring a black model. It's Naomi Campbell, though the page looked very editorial-y, and was marked "promotion." And according to Jezebel, they spotted "an ad for a company called Quodlibet [that] uses a black model!."

[AdAge]