Sophie Chapman, Copy Editor, has chosen Pride icons that have impacted the world in a variety of ways, whether through their work or activism. To kick them off are Vogue’s lesbian power couple: Dorothy Todd and Madge Garland.

Dorothy Todd was appointed editor of Vogue in 1923 and, between then and her controversial dismissal in 1926, she and fashion editor/lover Madge Garland revolutionised the magazine into a queer masterpiece. Commissioning work by iconic queer contemporaries such as Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, and Vita Sackville-West, the still-young publication “became a bible of modernism and the avant-garde” (Rosen).

As well as successful and innovative editors, the two were fascinating public figures. Both were renowned for their respective unique appearances and their relatively well-known openly gay relationship. Sadly, the success couldn’t last long and after Todd was fired by Condé Nast, their relationship took a bad (and allegedly abusive) turn and they broke up. While Dorothy Todd’s career declined from there, Madge Garland turned hers around. She was rehired as fashion editor for Vogue in 1932 and, in 1948, became the first Professor of Fashion Design at the Royal College of Art. Despite Todd’s downfall and their parting of ways, the time Todd and Garland spent at Vogue demonstrates a seminal moment in queer art and history.

Read More – The 1920s lesbian power couple who transformed Vogue: https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/38933/1/the-1920s-lesbian-couple-transformed-british-vogue-dorothy-todd-madge-garland (quote source)

–Sophie Chapman