'Vogue' has decided to publish the more formal Kamala Harris cover for Inauguration Day

As America (and the rest of the world) collectively exhaled today during the swearing in of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Vogue has announced that it will be publishing two different versions of their February issue — one with the highly criticized casual Harris cover plus a limited run of “special edition” Inauguration Day copies featuring the new VP in a more formal look.

"In celebration of this historic moment, we will be publishing a limited number of special edition #InaugurationDay issues, featuring Vice President-elect @kamalaharris," wrote the magazine’s social media team on Instagram the day before the big event. If the new cover looks familiar, it’s because Vogue had already shared the image but had decided not to use it as the cover, instead going with a photo of Harris in a simple dark suit, white tee, and Converse sneakers — her signature campaign trail look. The photo, argued the publication’s editorial team, showed the VP’s "authentic, approachable nature, which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden-Harris administration," adding that both photos were released as part of the February digital edition in an effort to respond “to the seriousness of this moment in history, and the role she has to play leading our country forward."

RELATED: Kamala Harris’ team reportedly unhappy with Vogue photo selection

[video_embed id='2116329']RELATED: Kamala Harris’ team reportedly unhappy with Vogue photo selection[/video_embed]

Readers objected to the casual cover and so did Harris’ team, who said that they were unaware that the agreed upon image had been changed without their okay. Both cover photos were taken by photographer Tyler Mitchell who photographed Beyoncé for Vogue in 2018, but the casual-look Kamala cover was critiqued as being poorly lit, lacking the respect of her office, and washing out Harris’ skintone. Under pressure from readers and critics alike, it seems Vogue has now decided to print a run of magazines with the photo that was meant to grace the cover in the first place.

Anna Wintour, the magazine’s eternal Editor in Chief, defended the choice though, saying "When the two images arrived at Vogue, all of us felt very, very strongly that the less formal portrait of the Vice President-elect really reflected the moment that we were living in," she said on an episode of the New York Times’ Sway podcast last week. "We are in the midst ... of the most appalling pandemic that is taking lives by the minute, and we felt to reflect this tragic moment in global history, a much less formal picture, something that was very, very accessible, and approachable, and really reflected the hallmark of the Biden-Harris campaign."

The new, more formal cover featuring the smiling former senator from California, now the first female, first Black, and first Asian-American to hold the office of Vice President in the U.S. is out today — but only available south of the border. Screencap your digital edition now. 

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[video_embed id='2122325']BEFORE YOU GO: Donald Trump leaves the white house as president for the last time[/video_embed]