Michaela Bercu 1988 cover of American "Vogue" wearing a bejeweled Christian Lacroix T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans; the shot was done outdoors in natural light. It was Anna Wintour's first cover since taking over as the magazine's editor-in-chief, and was seen as signaling a break from the more formal and posed cover images favored by her predecessor, Grace Mirabella. It was also the first time a model on the cover of "Vogue" was shown wearing jeans. Bercu was also the first Israeli woman to be featured on the cover of American "Vogue". She would later appear on the covers of
Vogue (magazine) the American issue (the other two men were actors George Clooney and Richard Gere), and the first in which the man was black. Some observers criticized the cover as a prejudicial depiction of James because his pose with Bündchen was reminiscent of a poster for the film "King Kong". Further criticism arose when the website "Watching the Watchers" analyzed the photo alongside the World War I recruitment poster titled "Destroy This Mad Brute". James reportedly however liked the cover shoot. In February 2011, just before the 2011 Syrian protests unfolded, "Vogue" published a controversial piece by Joan Juliet Buck on