As the fashion industry's September issues hit newsstands this week, there's one conversation that'll be hard to ignore - that of Black Girl Magic.
A quick look across the spectrum of magazines currently on sale and you'll see there are no more than seven black cover stars gracing the covers of the most influential and in-demand glossies - yes, that's right - seven.
Joining model Slick Woods, who proudly displays her baby bump on the cover of ELLE UK, is beauty mogul and singer Rihanna who is (arguably) bringing 'back' thin eyebrows on British Vogue.
Next up is Beyoncé, proving she's the Queen B of florals for American Vogue; Lupita Nyong'o redressing beauty standards for WOC on Porter; Tracee Ellis Ross beaming on the front of ELLE Canada. Meanwhile, Zendaya is sporting sartorial leopard print on Marie Claire US, as Tiffany Haddish celebrates all the colours of the rainbow on US Glamour.
While the importance of representation is by no means news, it's nevertheless a time for celebration following decades of seeing one homogeneous view of beauty on fashion magazine covers.
Unsurprisingly, the issues have been applauded on social media by readers around the world:
So, why is it only now that the industry is waking up to the need for WOC representation?
As ELLE UK's deputy editor Kenya Hunt writes in the Evening Standard: 'When I moved to London 10 years ago, newsstands were ever more homogeneous- presumably because it was thought there were few black women to inspire readers of all races to spend £3 or £4.
'Black audiences will spend when we see ourselves represented.'
This may go to explain, in part, the unprecedented success of Marvel's Black Panther - which reportedly just became the third movie in history to cross the $700 million United States domestic box office plateau and continues to out-sell the last seven Marvel Cinematic Universe movies combined.
And let's not forget the unprecedented success of RiRi's Fenty cosmetics brand, which is predicted to outsell Kylie Jenner's company (which is estimated to be worth a whopping $1 billion by 2022, FYI).
Black representation doesn't sell? We think not.
However, it's not enough just to celebrate #BlackGirlMagic but, as Maiysha Kai, managing editor of The Glow Up, writes 'now, we have to support it'.
The success of Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené's ground-shattering guide to black women Slay In Your Lane has been stunningly impressive. And this weekend, gal-dem takes over the Guardian Weekend - all the content is produced by women of colour and non binary people of colour - while the magazine's editor Liv Little has just joined ELLE UK as contributing editor.
Clearly Black Girl Magic is clearly here to stay. Long may it continue.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
