Edward Enninful 'I feel like we're less tolerant now than we were in the 90s'

When Edward Enninful was scouted on the tube while travelling through 1990s London, it changed his life.

- Nadia Khomami

The Ghanaian teenager, newly arrived in Britain, was drawn into London's creative scene - first as a model, then stylist, and by 18, fashion director of i-D.

"It was the height of the YBA movement - Jay Jopling, Tracey Emin. I met Kate [Moss] at a casting," he recalls. "Then Naomi [Campbell] for a cover, and I knew we'd be great friends. We all hung out across disciplines. Friday rolled into Saturday into Sunday. I miss that rawness."

If Enninful sounds nostalgic, he's not the only one. Lately, wistful romanticisation of the 90s has reached fever pitch. But in the intervening decades Enninful believes something has shifted.

"I feel like we're less tolerant now than we were in the 90s," he says. "It's not even just this country - it's everywhere."

The regression is hard to ignore: the rise of the far right, the backlash against "wokeness", and the reassertion of Eurocentric beauty standards. In place of the optimism of Tony Blair, today Nigel Farage looms as a potential prime minister. Even the union jack, once an emblem of Cool Britannia, has become contested terrain.

For Enninful, the antidote has always been to celebrate culture in all its diversity. It was the organising principle of his first British Vogue, back in 2017, which was a portrait of modern Britain featuring power players such as Sadiq Khan, Skepta, Steve McQueen and Zadie Smith.

"People with a voice should use it," he says. "Everyone talks about immigration. I wouldn't be here if Britain hadn't been a lenient country, if it hadn't given my family a home and an education. That's the Britain I always loved. I hope this moment will pass."