It’s been local publishing’s burning question since Grazia South Africa arrived on our shores in May: which local celebrity would be the first to grace the cover of the country’s first weekly news and fashion magazine?

With Grazia South Africa covering not just fashion but current affairs, beauty, lifestyle and entertainment, the very first home-grown cover star needed to have the ultimate blend of star power and style to enthrall the magazine’s globally savvy, thirty something, urban professional female reader.

And on Friday, readers of the 21st edition of the magazine will find out that the ever-stylish singer, songwriter, Idols judge and radio personality Unathi Msengana will make history as Grazia South Africa’s very first local cover star.

Shot on location on the streets of Sandton by Aubrey Jonsson and Mbali Soga, the 33-year old personality and mother-of-two talks Grazia through her favourite styles of the Idols season, as well as how she got into such great shape after the birth of her baby.

Grazia South Africa editor Danielle Weakley says the two-time SAMA nominated artist – who has shared the stage with international superstars including Youssou N’Dour and John Legend – was selected because of her enduring fashion appeal and warmth on screen. “I just love Unathi – she’s been firmly in the public eye since the start of the Idols season making week after week of savvy (local!) sartorial choices, which is no mean feat. Plus she addresses the contestants – and anyone she meets – with warmth, wit and grace.”

Long a supporter of local fashion (she has often been snapped wearing the couture creations of designers including Gavin Rajah, Asanda Madyibi and David Tlale), Unathi follows in the footsteps of pop superstar Rihanna, who was featured on the cover of the launch issue of the magazine.

What do you think of Unathi’s Grazia cover?