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.