Solange tells Evening Standard magazine “dtmh” after it removes braids from cover shot

Solange has posted the original photo used on this week’s Evening Standard magazine cover on her Instagram, commenting “dtmh” after the magazine digitally removed a large sculptural circle of braids. The comment is an abbreviation of Don’t Touch My Hair, a song on her album A Seat at the Table, about the disrespect of black culture, which Pitchfork called a “powerful pledge of personal identity”.

The singer has also posted an extract from the interview on Stories, quoting her as saying braiding is an “act of beauty, an act of convenience and an act of tradition… its own art form”.

Comparison between the final cover and the original shot shows a halo of braids has been edited out. Joanne Petit-Frére styled Solange’s hair for the shoot together with Vernon Francois, and has also reposted the cover and original photo, saying “Happy to be working with Solange in this cover of Evening Standard…Would you believe they photoshopped the crown from the cover?”

The cover was shot by Elliott Jerome Brown Jnr and Daria Kobayashi Ritch, who also reposted the original on Instagram. When a commenter asked why she photoshopped it, she responded “I didn’t. The magazine did.” The shoot was styled by Mindy Le Brock with makeup by Dana Delaney.

The magazine has since posted another image from the shoot on Instagram, showing more of the full hairstyle and quoting Solange from the interview, stating “Owning my body is really important to me”.