Jacinda Ardern on the cover of the September issue of British Vogue. Photo / Vogue
Jacinda Ardern on the cover of the September issue of British Vogue. Photo / Vogue
Following Jacinda Ardern's star turn on the cover of British Vogue, guest-edited by Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, the Prime Minister has also featured in a promotional video for the issue.
Ardern is one of 15 women to feature on the September issue's "Forces for Change" cover and in footage shared to Instagram she speaks alongside the likes of Salma Hayek and Jane Fonda about what she sees as a solution to our increasingly "polarised" world.
Ardern says: "One change that I've noticed over the course of my career, is just how polarised the world is now. I do think there is a solution to that though, and that's ultimately us coming back to the humanity that we all share."
According to The Telegraph, Ardern showed "real empathy" for Markle when she visited New Zealand last October, shortly after the announcement of her pregnancy.
Markle identified a group of women, including Ardern, she personally admired and felt "very strongly" about. Photo / Getty Images
In a post to the Duke and Duchess' Instagram announcing the cover, it was noted that the Duchess "chose a diverse selection of women from all walks of life, each driving impact and raising the bar for equality, kindness, justice and open mindedness."
The cover also features a mirror panel, positioned next to Ardern, "so that when you hold the issue in your hands, you see yourself as part of this collective," explains The Duchess.
Further details from Markle's work on the issue were also shared in the Instagram post.
"We are proud to announce that Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Sussex is the Guest Editor for the September issue of @BritishVogue. For the past seven months, The Duchess has curated the content with British Vogue's Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful to create an issue that highlights the power of the collective. They have named the issue: "Forces for Change".
The Telegraph reports that Markle has been heavily involved in every decision, her involvement reflected on "every single page,".
She said: "These last seven months have been a rewarding process, curating and collaborating with Edward Enninful, British Vogue's editor-in-chief, to take the year's most read fashion issue and steer its focus to the values, causes and people making impact in the world today.
"Through this lens I hope you'll feel the strength of the collective in the diverse selection of women chosen for the cover as well as the team of support I called upon within the issue to help bring this to light. I hope readers feel as inspired as I do, by the 'Forces for Change' they'll find within these pages."
While it was the Duchess's idea to feature 15 women on the cover, the 37-year-old eschewed the chance to appear alongside them as she deemed it "boastful" for this particular project.
Instead, she identified a group of women she personally admired and felt "very strongly" about, some of whom she has met in the last year or two.
They include Adwoa Aboah, a mental health campaigner and model whom the Duchess appeared alongside on a panel marking International Women's Day in March and Jameela Jamil, a body positivity advocate and actor whose Instagram account was one of a small selection recently highlighted by the Sussex's.
Also praised for her empathy is Sinead Burke, an Irish diversity activist, who met the Duchess at a garden party in Dublin last July and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the novelist who hosted a talk with Michelle Obama attended by the Duchess in December.
Others she has chosen to celebrate are Adut Akech, a South Sudanese model and former refugee, Ramla Ali, a London-based Somali boxer, Gemma Chan, a Kent-born campaigner and actor and Laverne Cox, the transgender activist and actor who stars in Orange is the New Black.
The inclusion of Jane Fonda, the American actor and political activist, was likely inspired by the 2018 documentary Feminists: What Were They Thinking? which the Duchess referenced earlier this year after watching it on Netflix.
The other women featured are Salma Hayek Pinault, the actor and women's rights advocate, Francesca Hayward, the Kenyan-born Royal Ballet principal dancer who stars in the remake of Cats, Greta Thunberg, the climate change campaigner, Christy Turlington Burns, the model and campaigner against maternal deaths and Yara Shahidi, the American actor and founder of Eighteen x 18, which is focused on engaging young people in politics.
The issue also includes an exclusive interview between Markle and Michelle Obama, and features Prince Harry in conversation with famed primatologist Dr Jane Goodall.
