Amal Clooney can add “Vogue cover model” to her long list of accomplishments.
The powerful human rights lawyer, women’s safety activist, style icon, and mother of twins (who also happens to be married to actor George Clooney) appears on the cover of the magazine’s May 2018 issue.
She was photographed by famous American photographer Annie Leibovitz, and is wearing an Alexander McQueen top and Cartier earrings.
The decision to put Clooney on the cover was an easy one, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wrote in the magazine.
“One of the many conversations we’ve been having at Vogue lately is about who exactly should be gracing our covers given the radically changed world we now live in. We’ve always taken the position that the women we feature should have substance to them, something that has only taken on greater urgency in the last year or so,” Wintour wrote in her editor’s note.
“That’s why I’m delighted that Amal Clooney, a force to be reckoned with in the realms of international law and human rights, agreed to appear on our May cover.”
Clooney’s interview, which takes place at her home in Sonning, England, focuses on her impressive career and her personal life, as well as her opinions on gun control and the #MeToo movement.
“I think because of the brave women who have come forward to tell their stories, the future workplace will be safer for my daughter than it was for people of my generation,” Clooney said.
Her actor husband, George, is first-mentioned simply as “her husband,” and for that thoughtful detail we Can’t. Stop. Clapping. (There has been a lot of criticism about media outlets referring to Amal — who is obviously famous and accomplished — simply as “George Clooney’s wife.”)
“A side table, lit by a simple lamp, bears silver-framed black-and-white photos of her with her husband, George, and friends,” the description in Vogue reads.
Clooney, who gave birth to twins in 2017, also discusses breastfeeding (“I had all manner of weird cushions and pillows and machines”) and balancing her work and motherhood (“Between six and eight in the morning we get to have them in our bed — I don’t schedule any calls before eight”).
And she reveals that her twins’ first words were “Mama” (right on!)
“We’ve had some ‘Mamas’ and ‘Dadas,’ ” Amal said. “George was very careful to ensure that ‘Mama’ was the first word.”
While her Vogue cover was widely celebrated, with many people using social media to applaud the publication for its choice, there were others who questioned whether Clooney belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine.
“I thought Vogue was considered a fashion magazine not celebs playground,” a commenter wrote on Instagram.
Which we could say a lot about, but instead we’ll just return to Wintour’s explanation: that she’s “a force to be reckoned with.”
“Amal needs no introduction, of course — yet for someone who’s in the spotlight so much, she rarely engages with her fame. It’s as if she has negotiated a life for herself that can somehow happily accommodate being married to a very famous movie star without ever having to sacrifice her passionate attachment to her long and illustrious career as a barrister, most notably her defence of the Yazidis and her challenge to the United Nations to take action on their behalf,” Wintour wrote.
And that sounds like exactly the type of person who should be celebrated on a magazine cover, TBH.
Read the full Clooney interview in Vogue’s May 2018 issue.