Here's the deal ... Edward is stepping down at British Vogue after 40 years as magazine editor, and the March issue is a farewell of sorts ... with 40 fashion icons joining forces for a photo shoot. It's a big deal -- he's been heading up British Vogue for years now.

The cover page just dropped and folks on social media seem shocked at the lack of Kardashians and Jenners ... there's no Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kris, Kylie or Kendall -- and while some were gleefully rejoicing, many were genuinely curious about their absence.

Ditto for Gisele -- people were scratching their heads over her not being among the 40 models ... especially considering how she's the highest-paid supermodel of all time.

So the obvious question ... what gives? And more importantly ... is this a snub/slight????

TMZ did some digging and as it turns out, none of the Kardashians or Jenners have ever appeared on the cover of British Vogue ... hence them not being among the "Vogue icons" in this sweet farewell to Ed.

Ya can't really be snubbed from something if you were never involved in the first place -- so that answers that. Yes, the KarJenners have graced multiple Vogue covers over the years -- from many different counties -- but none have ever been on British Vogue specifically.

Of course, Gisele is the more glaring hole ... you see, she's huge in the modeling world, period, and appeared in the 2022 edition of British Vogue. So she does have history.

We have an answer for that as well -- sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Gisele was actually invited to take part in this photoshoot, but she wasn't available on the day the shoot happened. In other words ... no snub for Gisele either -- just scheduling conflicts.

Pitchforks down, folks ... all things have explanations, and not everything is drama.