Joan Smalls currently ranks fourth on Models.com’s list of the world’s top fashion models. She regularly walks the most high-profile runway shows and lands some of the most coveted print ads (most recently, Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2012 campaign, photographed by none other than Karl Lagerfeld). She is, without a doubt, a wildly successful supermodel. Yet, for some reason, she caused quite a stir for appearing on the cover of Vogue Italia this month. She was the subject of headlines and discussion boards all over the blogosphere, from Jezebel to New York Magazine.
