Kamala Harris' Vogue cover photos include a nod to her sorority and her signature Converse sneakers

• Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is Vogue's February cover star.
• On Sunday, the magazine shared two covers featuring Harris. Both were captured by Tyler Mitchell, who became the first Black photographer for a Vogue cover in 2018, when he was hired to take Beyoncé's photo.
• The pink-and-green backdrop in one of Harris' covers is a nod to her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
• But before Vogue officially released its photos of Harris, one of her cover images was leaked on Twitter.
• Journalist Yashar Ali reported the particular image wasn't agreed upon by Harris' and Vogue's teams, and its lighting and backdrop sparked mixed reactions from users.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is on the cover of Vogue's February issue.

Vogue officially released the cover photos of Harris on Sunday on Twitter and Instagram. Both were taken by Tyler Mitchell, who, in 2018, became the magazine's first Black photographer to capture a cover.

Harris stars on two covers. In one, she's photographed in front of a green backdrop with pink fabric. Some Twitter users suggested that the pink and green elements in the photo could be a nod to the colors of Harris' sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Vogue tagged the sorority in its Instagram post, confirming the reference.

The vice president-elect is wearing a black blazer, white top, tapered black pants, and Converse sneakers - a style of shoes that's become her signature. ("It's either Chucks or heels. Always has been," Harris said in 2020 on the late-night talk show "Desus & Mero.")

On the other cover, Harris is pictured in a powder-blue Michael Kors suit.

Before Vogue officially released its cover photos of Harris, one of the images was leaked on Twitter

According to a series of tweets from journalist Yashar Ali, a source "familiar with the publication plans" told him that the photo of the vice president-elect with the pink-and-green backdrop is not the one her team and Vogue's team agreed upon.

Ali stated that the photo where Harris wearing the Michael Kors powder-blue suit was the one that was mutually picked by Harris' team and Vogue's team, including Anna Wintour, the magazine's longtime editor-in-chief and the newly appointed Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast.

People applauded the vice president-elect but expressed mixed reactions to the photo with the multicolored backdrop

Many supporters of Harris said that the photo that circulated of the vice president-elect early Sunday morning didn't "do her justice" and looked like a "Zoom backdrop."

"This photo doesn't capture her spirit or do her justice," another user wrote in response to Ali's Twitter thread.

Some users initially thought that the image shared by Ali was a lighting test rather than a final cover shot.

When Vogue released the official covers of Harris, many still expressed distaste with the pink-and-green image.

But the reactions to Harris' supposed magazine cover image weren't all negative. Many supporters of the vice president-elect celebrated her style and her signature Converse sneakers that were featured in the photo.

Harris' Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters also celebrated the nod to the sorority's colors.

"The background is super symbolic however and is the colors of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first historically black sorority. So snaps to Vogue for making the symbolic choice I say! I think it humanizes her more," one user wrote in response to Vogue's tweet of the covers.

Read more: Black women and girls cry and cheer over a historic victory for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris

In the past, Vogue has garnered backlash for how it has photographed Black women on its covers

Harris' February cover photographer, Tyler Mitchell, was the first Black photographer for Vogue. Mitchell was hired by Beyoncé when she was featured on the front of the magazine in 2018. Since then, Mitchell has also captured the recent Vogue cover for Harry Styles, as well as Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Vanity Fair cover.

But Vogue received criticism in July 2020 when it released the cover for its August issue of that year, starring Olympian Simone Biles. She was captured by storied American photographer Annie Leibovitz.

At the time, fans of Biles celebrated feature in the magazine, but many also called out the publication, saying the lighting in the photos was unflattering to the athlete's skin tone and did her a disservice.

Biles' cover ignited a conversation about the need for more Black creatives - not just for Vogue, but for all publications, as photographers of color chimed in to share how they would have edited the Olympian's pictures.

Read Harris' full Vogue feature written by Alexis Okeowo.

Representatives for the Biden-Harris transition team declined to comment. Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, respectively, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.