American poet and activist Amanda Gorman takes the cover of Allure Magazine‘s March 2022 edition lensed by fashion photographer Djeneba Aduayom. In charge of styling was Shibon Kennedy, with set design from Evan Jourden, and production by Viewfinders. Beauty is work of hair stylist LaRae Burress, makeup artist Joanna Simkin, and manicurist Yoko Sakakura. For the cover Gorman is wearing Proenza Schouler dress, and Bulgari earrings.
I’m here because my mom championed me from the beginning, when no one else would.I get so many comments about my confidence or the way I possess myself, and I was not just born this way. It was due to somebody else cultivating that in me. – Gorman
As a Black female poet, I think so many people expected my poems to be angry because of that schema. I’m like, yes, I have the right to be angry. But I wanted to really have freedom to speak with hope in the same way that white male poets get to do. Why can’t that voice of a people, a generation, come from someone who looks like me? Not too long ago, my ancestors would’ve been persecuted for reading and writing, and I’m the inaugural poet of the United States. If anything, as a Black woman, I feel like that makes me the most hopeful. – Gorman
Photography © Djeneba Aduayom for Allure Magazine – discover more at allure.com