The Secrets Behind The Perfect Cover Girl

Nic Willison — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:00:00 BST

In an interview with The Guardian, British Vogue's Alexandra Shulman reveals the secrets behind choosing a cover girl, although she admits that there is no set science behind the agonising decision. "It's difficult to say what will sell" Shulman explains, "Kate Moss sells well for us but then we tend to play to our strengths and put her on the September cover - it's better to use your ammunition on a big issue rather than battling against a difficult seasonal sensation".

Despite describing Moss as a safety cover girl, Shulman remembers the 2003 Vogue cover with the waif-like rock chick styled as David Bowie's iconic Aladdin Sane sleeve as a "complete catastrophe". Other things to avoid include dirty colours such as mustard or aubergine, and high fashion pieces - "a real thumbs down". "The evidence suggests that black cover girls don't sell as well as white cover girls," she admits with regret, although Glamour's Jo Elvin disagrees with such narrow conventions.

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The Secrets Behind The Perfect Cover Girl