Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Vogue Italia's Editor-In-Chief, Franca Sozzani was quoted as saying she was doing this because no one else was and "because nobody is using black girls." Meisel shot Jourdan Dunn for the cover as Vogue.com confirmed. All of this has been done for their July 2008 issue.

Saying that this is ground breaking would be an understatement. It has not been confirmed as to whom the other models are, but it is known that Dunn along with Iman is going to be in the issue.

The buzz began last week, mainly on fashion blogs and among industry insiders. It was then confirmed at the end of last week, and since then has been the topic of conversation.

The desicion to use only black models is one that will go down in the history of this industry. It is somewhat sad that Anna Wintour's Vogue could not have made this choice before. She is the premier fashion editor. She is revered in the industry, but clearly she is behind the times when it comes to creating a more diverse publication.

I will be the first to admit that I was more than excited when I heard the news. The discussion about black models and the industry is nothing new. There had been several conferences and discussions about it. People like Naomi Campbell and Andre Leon Talley, who is Editor-at-Large of Vogue, have been a part of panel discussions that addressed the lack of color on the runways.

Someone has finally addressed this issue head on. Who knew that it would take a tiny Italian woman to jump start this trend? Well, I don't know if it could be referred to as a trend just yet. Hoepfully more fashion magazines around the world will follow suit.

Fashion is all about change and reinvention, this is one of the largest, most significant changes of recent memory.

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