‘That's all.' Anna Wintour leaves editor-in-chief role at Vogue

San Francisco Chronicle​

8 hours ago

I am here to report that the news of the abdication of Anna Wintour is greatly exaggerated.
Yes, Wintour — perhaps the most famous magazine editor in the world — is stepping down from her role as editor-in-chief of Vogue. The bobbed-hair Brit icon of fashion publishing has been at the helm of the storied 132 year-old magazine since 1988, an unprecedented run. In those 37 years, she has gone on to surpass any previous editor as its representative.
But before you plan the farewell parade, remember that Wintour currently holds three positions at Condé Nast, Vogue's parent company. At 75, she will remain Vogue's global editorial director, as well as chief content officer for Condé Nast. In that role, Wintour oversees Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ and several other magazines (excluding the New Yorker.)
Wintour will also still remain the most powerful person at Vogue. While her title of editor-in-chief will be struck from the masthead, a new 'head of editorial content' will be created at American Vogue. That person will report directly to Wintour.
So, in essence, Wintour will have no successor.
While the move itself might not change the direction of the Vogue brand or power structure considerably, the news has inspired significant media coverage, with many calling it the end of an era for fashion publishing.
Wintour was already a veteran of several publications when she took over Vogue from Grace Mirabella in 1988. Her first cover in November of that year featured model Michaela Bercu photographed by Peter Lindbergh, wearing a bejeweled Christian Lacroix couture jacket and stonewashed Guess jeans. The look was a high-low pairing that broke precedent. During her time as editor-in-chief, she was a star in the last great flowering of magazines before the financial crisis of 2008. Perhaps only successive Vanity Fair editor-in-chiefs Tina Brown and Graydon Carter came close to Wintour in celebrity.
During her tenure, Wintour oversaw the magazine as publishing expanded online and eventually, into social media. Wintour is also responsible for using the power of Vogue to transform the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute's annual fundraising gala into one of the biggest fashion and celebrity events in the world, raising millions of dollars annually. The Costume Institute is now named for her.
With her concealing bangs, oversized sunglasses and unflappably chic public persona, Wintour has become a brand and object of public fascination independent of the magazine. In 2003, the novel 'The Devil Wears Prada,' by Wintour's former assistant Lauren Weisberger, shot onto the New York Times bestseller list for six months. The book's cold, demanding editor of the fictional Runway magazine, Miranda Priestly, is widely seen as a roman à clef of Wintour.
Even before the novel and the subsequent 2006 film adaptation, starring Anne Hathaway as Weisberger's stand-in Andy and Meryl Streep as Priestly, Wintour had a reputation as 'Nuclear Wintour,' a nickname that came from her allegedly frosty demeanor. Priestly's tendency to dismiss subordinates with a casual 'that's all' has become one of the more notable memes from the hit movie. When Wintour went to see the film, the editor noted that she wore Prada.
In 2009, Wintour appeared in R.J. Cutler's documentary 'The September Issue' about the creation of the magazine's famed fall fashion edition, further cementing her as a face for the brand.
As the magazine and fashion worlds have changed in the 21st century, Wintour has had to navigate calls for more racial, body and ethnic diversity in the magazine. Beyond Weisberger's book, allegations of a hostile work environment at Vogue continued to plague Wintour, specifically by former Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley in his 2020 memoir, 'The Chiffon Trenches.' A prolific Democratic Party fundraiser, Wintour has also been criticized for not featuring First Lady Melania Trump on Vogue's cover like previous presidential spouses.
The only other fashion editor of comparable pop culture stature to Wintour is Mirabella's predecessor, Diana Vreeland, who inspired the character of Maggie Prescott in the 1957 musical 'Funny Face' and has become much caricatured. But while Vreeland has been mostly defanged as a delightful eccentric in depictions, Wintour has come to symbolize many things. On one hand, she's the enduring figure in an industry obsessed with VC youth and trends. Like a royal or a pope, her presence seems to offer a certain stability in fickle fashion. To some, she's an OG girl boss in male dominated publishing. And to others, she's the archetype for a boss from hell.
But what other magazine executive has been as memed, merchandized and fetishized like Wintour? With a new musical version of 'The Devil Wears Prada' by Elton John onstage in London (with Priestly played by Vanessa Williams) and a cinematic sequel in the works, it's not like Wintour is going to suddenly be less famous.
While Wintour's power isn't diminishing, the shift does mark the close of a chapter. There will likely never be another fashion editor who commands her level of interest again.