{{Short description|Australian model}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox model | name = Elaine George | image = | birth_date = {{circa}} {{birth year and age|1975}} | birth_place = Queensland, Australia | height = | haircolor = | eyecolor = | measurements = | weight = | dress size = | shoesize = }} '''Elaine George''' ({{circa}} 1976), later known as '''Elaine Tanaka''', is an Aboriginal Australian fashion model. She was the first Aboriginal model to appear on the cover of ''Vogue'' magazine, in the Australian edition, September 1993.
== Early life == Elaine George was born around 1976 and brought up in a housing commission (a form of social housing) home in Inala, south-west of Brisbane, Queensland. Her mother is of Arakwal descent, and her father (white) Australian of German ancestry.<ref name=singer2020>{{cite web | last=Singer | first=Melissa | title=The 'risky' Vogue cover that made history but almost never happened | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=25 September 2020 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/the-risky-vogue-cover-that-made-history-but-almost-never-happened-20200918-p55wxo.html | access-date=21 November 2023}}</ref>
She was a tomboy who liked sport, and her family, being poor, had never bought magazines. She was not allowed to wear make-up.<ref name=singer2020/>
==Vogue cover == George was photographed by photographer Grant Good, who spotted her at a theme park, Dreamworld, when she was taking her sister Anita out as a treat. He was there with his partner, Diana Finke, and their children, just a few days after having had a conversation with then editor of ''Vogue Australia'', Nancy Pilcher, about not having featured enough Australian models on the cover.<ref name =singer2020/>
Good sent test shots of her to Pilcher, who decided to put George on the cover of the September 1993 issue of the magazine. George was excited about being flown to Sydney for the shoot, having never been out of the state nor flown in a plane.<ref name =singer2020/>
George was the first Aboriginal model to appear on the cover of ''Vogue''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/paperbark/aboriginal_independance.htm |title=Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: Independence, art and politics |access-date=7 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404122657/http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/paperbark/aboriginal_independance.htm |archive-date=4 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/lifestyle/people/rebuilding-after-coming-apart-at-the-seams-20100423-tivx.html Indigenous beauty is back in Vogue]. ''Brisbane Times'', 23 April 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.magazine-covers.net/t2753073/elaine-george/vogue-magazine-australia-september-1993-magazine-cover.html ''Vogue'' cover featuring Elaine George], September 1993</ref>
According to former ''Vogue'' editor Kirstie Clements, the magazine received criticism for the fact that the already light-skinned George was blown out on the cover appearing to have even lighter skin then she had.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Clements|first1=Kirstie|title=The kind of magazine cover Australia barely ever sees.|date=16 April 2014 |url=http://www.mamamia.com.au/style/australian-indigenous-fashion-week/|accessdate=27 September 2015}}</ref>
==See also== *Samantha Harris, the second Aboriginal model to appear on the cover of ''Vogue''
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Elaine}} Category:Living people Category:1970s births Category:Indigenous Australian people Category:People from Brisbane Category:Australian female models Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
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