So in Vogue! British fashion bible swaps supermodels for key workers

So in Vogue! British fashion bible swaps supermodels for key workers to grace its July cover including a London Overground train driver and a midwife

Vogue has broken tradition to celebrate everyday heroes risking their lives
Narguis Horsford, a train driver on the London Overground, features on a cover
Meanwhile community midwife and supermarket assistant also grace the cover

By Emma Powell Showbusiness Correspondent For The Daily Mail and Emily Webber For Mailonline

Published: 22:02 BST, 1 June 2020 | Updated: 10:16 BST, 2 June 2020

Its cover is usually graced by stars and supermodels, but Vogue has set aside the rich and famous in favour of key workers.

The fashion bible has broken with tradition to celebrate the everyday heroes risking their lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Narguis Horsford, a train driver on the London Overground and Rachel Millar, 24, a community midwife in east London, were selected to represent millions of key workers in the UK as part of a 20-page portfolio for the July issue of British Vogue.

Meanwhile Anisa Omar, 21, a supermarket assistant in King’s Cross, central London, was also chosen to grace the cover of the magazine.

Anisa Omar, a 21-year-old Waitrose partner at King’s Cross, central London, features on a Vogue cover after the fashion bible has broken with tradition to celebrate the everyday heroes

Anisa Omar, 21, a supermarket assistant in King’s Cross

Anisa has been working at Waitrose in King’s Cross for a year, while she studies her second year of Business Management at university.

She lives in Islington with her parents and three siblings and said: ‘Before the pandemic, people would look at us as service assistants – we’re there to show them where the eggs are or if they want to complain about something.

‘But now they’re a lot more understanding. They understand that we’re here all the time, and they don’t have to leave their houses. People are a lot nicer, they’re warmer.’

The student was hailed on Twitter for her beauty and make-up skills as she couldn’t have a a make-up artist due to Covid-19, and a local Waitrose customer said she sees her every week and ‘assumed she was a model’.

Narguis said working through the pandemic has given her a sense of pride, revealing: ‘My job is to provide an essential service for people who need to travel safely.’

‘That gives me such a rewarding feeling, even more so during these times.’

Rachel called for the nation not to forget the Thursday Clap for Our Carers once the outbreak is over.

She revealed: ‘After the 8pm clapping fades, I hope the NHS won’t be forgotten. To resume to “normal” would be a step in the wrong direction.’

Narguis Horsford, a train driver on the London Overground, revealed how working throughout the pandemic had given her a sense of pride

Narguis Horsford, a London overground train driver

Narguis has worked for TFL for 10 years and driven London Overground trains for five, covering the route between Willesden Junction and Stratford, and Gospel Oak to Barking.

She lives alone in Bounds Green, north London, and has to get up early as some of her shifts start at 1:30am.

Despite being on the front line and having to isolate from her grandmother, she doesn’t feel nervous about her job.

Based at a depot in Willesden Junction, north-west London and drives two routes: Stratford to Richmond/Clapham Junction and Gospel Oak to Barking.

She said: ‘I don’t feel anxious about going to work, but I still have to distance myself from my family because, obviously, I’m out here and I’m on the front line. They do worry, especially my grandmother. This has certainly shown us that life is short. And we can’t take anything for granted. I can’t see myself doing anything else.’

Meanwhile Anisa said she now feels important, which she described as ‘nice’.

British Vogue editor Edward Enninful said: ‘If you had told me at the beginning of the year that Vogue’s July cover stars would be [these three] I might not have believed you.

‘But I can think of no more appropriate trio of women to represent the millions of people in the UK who, at the height of the pandemic, in the face of dangers large and small, put on their uniforms and work clothes and went to help people.’

It comes after Princess Sofia of Sweden and an Oxford University doctor who is leading the coronavirus vaccine race have been named as among Vogue’s first Forces For Change.

Meanwhile Rachel Millar, 24, a community midwife in east London, also graces on the cover of the fashion bible

Edward and the Duchess of Sussex, 38, collaborated on September’s special ‘Forces for Change’ edition, which featured a grid of 15 ‘incredible’ women on the cover with articles commissioned by the royal inside.

Now the magazine have named five further women whom they consider ‘change-makers’ making ‘a positive contribution to society’.

The editor-in-chief had previously declared Meghan Markle’s principle ‘a movement’, with the magazine hosting their first Forces for Change event in March

Read the full feature in the July issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Friday.

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