Vogue India features same-sex couple on the cover for the first time

Haima Simoes and Shruti Venkatesh make history as the first same-sex couple to feature on the cover of Vogue India.

Throughout the issue, the couple talks about the need for greater inclusion through a love story that is primed to inspire every generation today.

This issue explores what it means to be in love today, in real life, and in real-time. It also discloses the findings from its State of Love 2021 survey – a poll of over 2,800 Vogue readers, and their takes on the parameters that make up a contemporary romance. It represents how modern India views their relationships: complex, unfiltered but, ultimately heartwarming.

“We live in a turbulent age, but what helps us heal and the greatest reminder of our humanity is our power to love and be loved. But we are not just one story of love, from models Shruti and Haima our cover girls and the first same-sex couple to feature on a Vogue India cover, to inside the issue where we feature a diverse range of real love stories from and of India — we celebrate love in all its complexity today. And in this cultural moment of change, we also wanted to bring our readers voices in more directly, and so we conducted The state of love survey, that captures the evolving narrative around love, marriage and relationships in India,” said Priya Tanna, Editor-in-Chief, Vogue India.

The issue is released ahead of Condé Nast India’s Netflix debut, The Big Day, which follows 12 diverse couples on their way to matrimony. The six-part series navigates modern love, which comes with varied stories, pick-up lines, meet cutes, and strange twists of fate that bring people together.

The February issue is out now and The Big Day is available to stream on Netflix