The true meaning behind Vogue Italia's blank cover

It's a cry for help as the globe faces coronavirus with Italy being the country with the most number of infections as well as recorded deaths after China. 

For the April issue which comes out this Friday, Vogue Italia is publishing a blank white cover - which symbolises the rebirth and the light after darkness. 

With nothing to celebrate but being grateful for life, Vogue's cover is a cry for help - it's a true representation of a loud silence.

According to an Instagram post on the Vogue Italia page, the editor-in-chief of the gloss, Emmanuel Farneti said they had to change the cover they had in plan and go with the white one as a sign of respect during this pandemic. 

"In its long history stretching back over a hundred years, Vogue has come through wars, crises, acts of terrorism. Its noblest tradition is never to look the other way. Just under two weeks ago, we were about to print an issue that we had been planning for some time, and which also involved L’Uomo Vogue in a twin project.

"But to speak of anything else – while people are dying, doctors and nurses are risking their lives and the world is changing forever – is not the DNA of Vogue Italia. 

"Accordingly, we shelved our project and started from scratch. The decision to print a completely white cover for the first time in our history is not because there was any lack of images – quite the opposite. We chose it because white signifies many things at the same time. White is first of all respect. White is rebirth, the light after darkness, the sum of all colours. White is the colour of the uniforms worn by those who put their own lives on the line to save ours.

"It represents space and time to think, as well as to stay silent. White is for those who are filling this empty time and space with ideas, thoughts, stories, lines of verse, music and care for others. White recalls when, after the crisis of 1929, this immaculate colour was adopted for clothes as an expression of purity in the present, and of hope in the future.

"Above all: white is not surrender, but a blank sheet waiting to be written, the title page of a new story that is about to begin.”

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“In times like this, we felt that a silent cover would speak louder than any word or image. It’s a universal message of purity, strength, respect, and hope. Yet behind the silence of this cover, a very lively and personal issue of Vogue Italia comes to life. More than 40 artists and friends welcomed the challenge to contribute from their own quarantines. We personally asked each artist to “stay true to the constraints that we are all sharing in these difficult times, creating simple, honest images”, and to depict the fashion “in a way that most reflects their personal moment, with nothing else in mind.” It’s fair to say that the resulting images depict the widest range of emotions, that seen together create a long distance community effort that becomes an important visual document of the times we are living. Ultimately, it’s an expression of what Emanuele and I believe Vogue Italia should aim to: talking about the world through fashion.” @FerdinandoVerderi. #FarAwaySoClose #imagine #WhiteCanvas --- Editor in chief @EFarneti Creative director @FerdinandoVerderi Artwork @FerdinandoVerderi for Vogue Italia

A post shared by Vogue Italia(@vogueitalia) on Apr 8, 2020 at 1:00am PDT