Sessilee Lopez Credits Her “Comeback” to All-Black Italian Vogue

At just 20 years old, model Sessilee Lopez seems a little young for a career comeback. But she says that's exactly what happened after Steven Meisel gave her the cover of the July 2008 Italian Vogue featuring black models exclusively. “I didn’t even know I was going to have the cover until it came out. So it was definitely a surprise,” Lopez told us at the Cinema Society screening of Easy Virtue last night. “When Steven [Meisel] gave me that cover and 30 pages of editorial it definitely resurrected my career.”

Lopez believes the attention the all-black issue received put her on the radar of people who hadn’t seen her past work. “Definitely, it’s opened up doors for not only myself but for a lot of new faces and young girls of color. With the whole fashion world embracing diversity this past year, this has been quite amazing,” Lopez said. It's no wonder she calls this her "comeback year" after she went from walking six or seven shows in September during New York Fashion Week to more than twenty in February. Those included Narciso Rodriguez and Oscar de la Renta, which she was thrilled about. “I was flabbergasted,” she says. “I was blown away when I got confirmed.”

Her upcoming editorials include one in the June issue of Harper’s Bazaar. “And there’s something special coming out in September that I’m not really allowed to talk about. It’s amazing.”

Previously on The Cut...
 

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