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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Covers December Issue of 'Vanity Fair'

She joins politicians like Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Ilhan Omar in becoming cover stars during the 2020 election cycle.

As the final day of the 2020 presidential election looms closer, more politicians are appearing on the covers of fashion magazines. First it was Sen. Kamala Harris on Elle, then Rep. Ilhan Omar (and daughter Isra Hirsi) on Teen Vogue and now, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Vanity Fair.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was photographed by Tyler Mitchell for the November 2020 issue of Vanity Fair. The images feature her wearing capital-F fashion — think suits by Loewe, Carolina Herrera, Christopher John Rogers and Aliétte, plus a dress by Wales Bonner. The luxury labels are a far cry from the everyday contents of the Congresswoman's closet, a fact that she discusses in the story written by Michelle Ruiz: "It continues to take me so long to try to figure out how to look put-together without having a huge designer closet," she says.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez also discusses red lipstick serving as "war paint" in Congress, but the story doesn't focus solely on fashion and beauty. Instead, it portrays those as two elements that fit into the wider story of one woman's life.

Ruiz's writing chronicles everything from the Congresswoman's working class history to the death threats she's received since gaining prominence to her partner Riley Roberts' instincts toward privacy. The story even notes Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's brainiac-nerd roots: "In high school, AOC won an award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (something about the life span of roundworms), which led scientists to name an asteroid in her honor. Somewhere between Mars and Jupiter floats 23238 Ocasio-Cortez — according to the experts who named it, there's 'zero chance' it will destroy us."

Whatever the results of the presidential election, Ocasio-Cortez notes, there's still a lot of work to be done in the U.S. Read the full cover story here.

Homepage photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

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