The Twitter account for W magazine was criticized last week after posting a photo of models Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid and Alek Wek but only tagging Gigi and Bella, leaving Wek unidentified in the snap.
The account had tweeted a link to a story covering Off-White’s Spring/Summer 2020 during Paris Fashion Week, which Gigi, Bella and Wek all walked in. The link was accompanied by a photo of the three women backstage at the show, with the original tweet reading, “@GigiHadid and @BellaHadid were pretty in pink at @OffWht Spring/Summer 2020.”
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Fans immediately began criticizing the account for failing to acknowledge Wek.
So y’all aren’t going to name the beautiful woman in the middle?! 🤔😒
— B∙M∙W (@_Beewisdom) September 27, 2019
Damn, W! Damn damn damn
— Al (@_allerich) September 27, 2019
So your intern -or anyone else at W- doesn’t know the legendary Alek Wek?
— PJ (@PierreTchanque) September 27, 2019
The South Sudanese-born Wek has been working as a model for over two decades and has made a major impact on the fashion industry, becoming the first African model to appear on the cover of American ELLE in 1997. Wek has since covered magazines including Vogue Ukraine, American, French, German and South African ELLE, Glamour and Ebony and has walked for nearly every major fashion house including Chanel, Gucci, Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and more.
After the outrage surrounding W’s tweet, the post was deleted and replaced with another that tagged Wek’s account along with those of the Hadids.
After the adjusted tweet, several fans still weren’t happy with the account.
Really?? With no mention about, or apology for, leaving @TheRealAlekWek out of your original comment in your original post about this photo/event?! Shame.
— Grassrootsnet 🌊 (@GrassRootsNet) September 28, 2019
Hope the person that writes their social media posts got fired for this oversight. Pigment shouldn’t define beauty and W Magazine initially shouted out the two white people in this photo, completely forgetting to include the beauty in the middle.
— Momoneko (@Momonek09368753) September 28, 2019
Y’all too late. She should have been mentioned in the first place. How about an apology. #smdh #foolish 😒
— Aron sumpter (@aron_sumpter) September 28, 2019
Photo Credit: Getty / Gilbert Carrasquillo
