By now, everyone from Barbara Walters to Naomi Campbell has weighed in on Kimye’s Vogue cover in a mix of rage, approval, and complete confusion.
But now W editor Stefano Tonchi says he can really relate to what Vogue hath wrought. “I was there three years ago,” he told the Cut, referring to W’s 2010 Kim Kardashian cover, an artistic collaboration with Barbara Kruger that featured a spread of a nude Kardashian covered in metallic body paint.
“We got a lot of criticism. She’s a very controversial subject. Everybody does her in his or her own context. My idea was to use Kim as a commentary on where reality TV is going and what American audiences were getting used to. We had a very specific focus. I’m sure Anna had her reasons.”
What those reasons are, however, Tonchi didn’t say.