Vogue rattles fashionistas with Kim Kardashian cover

Kardashian, 33, appears in a strapless gown in the arms of her fiance, hip hop maestro Kanye West, over the headline: « Kim and Kanye: Their Fashionable Life and Surreal Times » and hashtag #worldsmosttalkedaboutcouple.

On the inside pages, the couple appear in photographs by Annie Leibovitz walking down a desert highway and lounging in a private jet. Their nine-month-old daughter North West also makes a cameo appearance.

« This is such a dream come true!!! Thank you @VogueMagazine for this cover! O M GGGGGG!!! I can’t even breath! » tweeted the star of « Keeping Up with the Kardashians » on her @KimKardashian account.

West — who told an interviewer in 2013 there was « no way » Kardashian shouldn’t be on Vogue’s cover — was equally pleased, telling his @kanyewest followers: « #TRILL Thank you @voguemagazine. »

Fashion enthusiasts flocked to Twitter as well to challenge the logic of Vogue editor Anna Wintour making a sophisticated cover girl out of a Hollywood celebrity who more regularly appears in downmarket tabloids.

« Hell hath frozen over, » tweeted Canadian fashion magazine Flare, while style bloggers Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez said: « This is NOTHING about fashion. »

Twitter user @ahDORIble posted that: « The last ounce of respect I had for Anna Wintour and Vogue is officially gone. »

The April issue of Vogue (www.vogue.com), with a « spring chic » theme, hits newsstands on March 31, a week after the release of its digital version.