Grace Coddington says the Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West US Vogue cover was her idea.

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West

Many readers were not impressed when the reality TV star and her rapper husband appeared on the front of the April 2014 issue of the fashion bible but creative director Grace defended the editorial by saying "that's who everyone wants to know about".

Grace told Vogue.co.uk: "Everybody thought that I was forced into doing it because they thought it was not very me, but actually, I'm the one that suggested it. Everybody was beating around the bush, and I said, 'Let's just do it. Let's embrace it.' That's who everybody wants to know about, so let's try to do it better than most people. That's why I thought, have someone like Annie Leibovitz shoot it. It will give it a stature and a weight so that it won't appear like another tabloid piece."

Grace previously admitted she was thrilled to work with Kim and Kanye because she is "fascinated by" the 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star.

She said: "There was a wedding story to be done, and Anna probably had them in mind, because she had been seeing a lot of Kanye, so she said, 'Maybe we should shoot it on lookalikes.' And I thought, 'Why not just do it on the real thing? This is Vogue.' And I do think Kim Kardashian represents this moment in our culture. I'm fascinated by her, in the same way I'm fascinated by the people I see on the street or the subway."