Ambitious shirt, hoodie and sweater

As a model, White Elk indeed embodies what the cover’s theme of hope is all about: they hope to bring much-needed representation to an industry that has a history of looking past Indigenous models, or worse, treating them as props. “Natives are constantly being overlooked, left and right. A lot of people that I know would like to see more Native representation with models,” says White Elk, who is from and based in Lincoln, Nebraska. “Modeling is especially important for us to be seen there, since that’s where we see ourselves a lot, as well as on the big screen. When Native people see themselves in such grand sceneries, they see how far that they can get, and it inspires them.” But this sense of pride around their culture hasn't always been the case.

White Elk, who is Oglala Lakota, is a newcomer to the modeling world. They only entered the industry this summer, after being discovered by IMG Models. The Vogue Italia cover happened after the publication came across Denali’s photos on IMG’s social channels. “It was a dream come true, to be honest,” says White Elk of the opportunity (they were photographed for the cover this summer in New York City). “[Looking back], I feel like I should have been even more excited, because it’s such a monumental thing to have accomplished. I didn’t know what to expect, but I enjoyed it, because everything [about the cover project] was based with a purpose.”

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Ambitious shirt, hoodie and sweater

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