The end of an era: Dame Anna Wintour steps down as Vogue editor-in-chief after 37 years in the role

Sky News AU

10 hours ago

After 37 years of setting trends, breaking rules, and defining what it means to be "high fashion", Dame Anna Wintour is stepping down as editor-in-chief of Vogue's American edition.
Wintour, 75, announced the move to staff in New York on Thursday, marking the end of an era that saw the once-traditional fashion mag become a cultural institution under her signature bob and black sunglasses.
But don't call it a goodbye - Wintour isn't walking away from the fashion empire she helped build, instead, she's simply stepping sideways.
The mother-of-two will remain Vogue's global editorial director and continue her role as Condé Nast's global chief content officer, still presiding over titles like Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ, Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveller, Glamour, Bon Appétit, and Allure.
A successor is now being sought, with the rebranded title of "head of editorial content", a role that will report directly to Wintour.
"Anybody in a creative field knows how essential it is never to stop growing in one's work," Anna said in a statement published by Vogue.
"When I became the editor of Vogue, I was eager to prove to all who might listen that there was a new, exciting way to imagine an American fashion magazine.
"Now, I find that my greatest pleasure is helping the next generation of impassioned editors storm the field with their own ideas, supported by a new, exciting view of what a major media company can be."
Wintour's rise is the stuff of fashion legend.
Born in Hampstead, London in 1949, she is the daughter of the late Charles Wintour, former editor of The Evening Standard, and Eleanor, a former journalist.
At just 15, Wintour landed her first job at the iconic boutique Biba, and from there, her path through the industry was meteoric.
After cutting her teeth at Harper's & Queen, Wintour crossed the Atlantic to work as a fashion editor for several US titles, before being named editor of British Vogue in 1986.
Two years later, she took over the American edition from Grace Mirabella.
Wintour's first cover in November 1988 was a fashion mic drop: Israeli model Michaela Bercu in a beaded Christian Lacroix jumper and faded Guess jeans.
It broke every rule and signalled the beginning of Wintour's new era, where her sharp eye and even sharper management style earned her the nickname "Nuclear Wintour".
She was famously immortalised and mythologised by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, the film based on a thinly veiled novel by Wintour's former assistant Lauren Weisberger.
Since 1995, Wintour has also overseen the Met Gala, transforming it from a society fundraiser into the most prestigious fashion event on the planet- a spectacle of art, celebrity, and cultural power that dominates headlines and timelines every May.
She has also become a fixture of fashion weeks, always front row, always unreadable behind those sunglasses.
"Across more than three decades' worth of issues of Vogue and its spinoffs, she has defined not only fashion but also beauty standards, telling millions of people what to buy, how to look, and who to care about," wrote journalist Amy Odell in Anna: The Biography.
Wintour's influence hasn't gone unnoticed beyond fashion's inner circle.
In January, former President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom before leaving office.
Meanwhile, in the UK, she was made a Dame in 2017 and, most recently, appointed a Companion of Honour, one of Britain's highest accolades.
In her remarks to staff this week, Wintour confirmed that, despite stepping down, many of her responsibilities at Vogue will "remain the same".
"(This includes) paying very close attention to the fashion industry and to the creative cultural force that is our extraordinary Met Ball, and charting the course of future Vogue Worlds, and any other original fearless ideas we may come up with… and it goes without saying that I plan to remain Vogue's tennis and theatre editor in perpetuity," she said.
"But how thrilling it will be to work alongside someone new who will challenge us, inspire us, and make us all think about Vogue in a myriad of original ways."
Wintour's successor has not yet been named.