Anna Wintour

Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic director of Condé Nast and the Global Editorial Director of ''Vogue''. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and dark sunglasses, Wintour has become an important figure in much of the fashion world, praised for her eye for emerging fashion trends. Her reportedly aloof and demanding personality has earned her the nickname "Nuclear Wintour".

Her father, Charles Wintour, Editor of the London ''Evening Standard'' (1959–1976), consulted with her on how to make the newspaper relevant to the youth of the era. She became interested in fashion as a teenager. Her career in fashion journalism began at two British magazines. Later, she moved to the US, with stints at '' New York'' and '' House & Garden''. She returned to London and was the editor of British ''Vogue'' between 1985 and 1987. A year later, she assumed control of the franchise's magazine in New York, reviving what many saw as a stagnating publication. Her use of the magazine to shape the fashion industry has been the subject of debate within it. Animal rights activists have attacked her for promoting fur, while other critics have charged her with using the magazine to promote elitist views of femininity and beauty.

A former personal assistant, Lauren Weisberger, wrote the 2003 bestselling ''roman à clef'' '' The Devil Wears Prada'', later made into a successful 2006 film starring Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a fashion editor, believed to be based on Wintour. In 2009, Wintour was the focus of a documentary film, R. J. Cutler's ''The September Issue''.

Early life and family

Anna Wintour was born in Hampstead, London, to Charles Wintour (1917–1999), editor of the ''Evening Standard'', and Eleanor "Nonie" Trego Baker (1917–1995), an American, the daughter of a Harvard Law School professor. Her parents were married in 1940 and divorced in 1979. Wintour was named after her maternal grandmother, Anna Baker (née Gilkyson), a merchant's daughter from Pennsylvania.Oppenheimer
2
"Eleanor Baker, an American, met Wintour at Cambridge University in England in the fall of 1939 ... er mother Anna Gilkyson Baker, for whom Anna Wintour was named, was a charming, matronly, somewhat ditzy society girl from Philadelphia's Main Line ..." Audrey Slaughter, a magazine editor who founded publications such as ''Honey'' and ''Petticoat'', is her stepmother.Oppenheimer, 99. "... r animosity intensif edafter her father married Slaughter."

Wintour's grandfather was Major-General Fitzgerald Wintour, a British military officer and descendent of Prime Minister George Grenville. Through her paternal grandmother, Alice Jane Blanche Foster, Wintour is a great-great-great-granddaughter of the late-18th-century novelist Lady Elizabeth Foster (later the Duchess of Devonshire) and her first husband, the Irish politician John Thomas Foster. Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, who served as the Anglican Bishop of Derry. Sir Augustus Vere Foster, 4th Baronet, the last Baronet of that name, was a granduncle of Wintour's. She is a niece of Cordelia James, Baroness James of Rusholme (daughter of Fitzgerald Wintour).

She had four siblings. Her older brother, Gerald, died in a traffic accident as a child.Oppenheimer, 6 One of her younger brothers, Patrick, is also a journalist, currently diplomatic editor of ''The Guardian''.Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 6 December 2006 James and Nora Wintour have worked in London local government and for international non-governmental organisations, respectively.

In her youth, Wintour was educated at the independent North London Collegiate School, where she frequently rebelled against the dress code by taking up the hemlines of her skirts.Oppenheimer, 15 At the age of 14, she began wearing her hair in a bob.Oppenheimer, 21. She developed an interest in fashion as a regular viewer of Cathy McGowan on ''Ready Steady Go!,''Oppenheimer, 22. and from the issues of ''Seventeen'' which her grandmother sent from the United States.''The September Issue'', 0:19. "Growing up in London in the '60s, you'd have to have had Irving Penn's sack over your head not to know something extraordinary was happening in fashion", she recalled.''The September Issue'', 0:18. Her father regularly consulted her when he was considering ideas for increasing readership in the youth market.

Career

From fashion to journalism

"I think my father really decided for me that I should work in fashion", she recalled in ''The September Issue''. He arranged for his daughter's first job, at the influential Biba boutique, when she was 15.Oppenheimer, 42–44. The next year, she left North London Collegiate and began a training program at Harrods. At her parents' behest, she also took fashion classes at a nearby school. Soon she gave them up, saying, "You either know fashion or you don't."Oppenheimer, 51. Another older boyfriend, Richard Neville, gave her her first experience of magazine production at his popular and controversial '' Oz''.Oppenheimer, 58–62.

In 1970, when ''Harper's Bazaar UK'' merged with ''Queen'' to become ''Harper's & Queen'', Wintour was hired as one of its first editorial assistants, beginning her career in fashion journalism.Oppenheimer, 63. She told her co-workers that she wanted to edit ''Vogue''.Oppenheimer, 70. While there, she discovered model Annabel Hodin, a former North London classmate. Her connections helped her secure locations for innovative shoots by Helmut Newton, Jim Lee and other trend-setting photographers.Oppenheimer, 81. "She quickly built up a reputation of being able to round up the best people and locations, mainly because of her connections through her father, pals like Nigel Dempster, and other well-placed people she met socially." One recreated the works of Renoir and Manet using models in go-go boots.Metropolitan Museum of Art; 12 January 1999
Anna Wintour elected honorary trustee
Retrieved 6 December 2006. After chronic disagreements with her rival, Min Hogg,Oppenheimer, 96. she quit and moved to New York with her boyfriend, freelance journalist Jon Bradshaw.Oppenhimer, 100.

New York City

In her new home, she became a junior fashion editor at ''Harper's Bazaar'' in New York City in 1975. Wintour's innovative shoots led editor Tony Mazzola to fire her after nine months.Oppenheimer, 109. She was reportedly introduced to Bob Marley by one of Bradshaw's friends, and disappeared with him for a week;Oppenheimer, 107. in a 2017 appearance on ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', she said she had never actually met the reggae legend, but certainly would have "hooked up" with him if she had. A few months later, Bradshaw helped her get her first position as a fashion editor, at ''Viva'', a women's adult magazine started by Kathy Keeton, then wife of ''Penthouse'' publisher Bob Guccione. She has rarely discussed working there, due to that connection.Oppenheimer, p. 118. This was the first job at which she was able to hire a personal assistant, which began her reputation as a demanding and difficult boss.Oppenheimer, p. 120.

In late 1978, Guccione shut down the unprofitable magazine. Wintour decided to take some time off from work. She broke up with Bradshaw and began a relationship with French record producer Michel Esteban, for two years dividing her time with him between Paris and New York.Oppenheimer, 152. She returned to work in 1980, succeeding Elsa Klensch as fashion editor for a new women's magazine named ''Savvy''.Larson, Christina; April 2005
From Venus To Minerva
; ''Washington Monthly''. Retrieved 11 December 2006. It sought to appeal to career-conscious professional women who spent their own money,Oppenheimer, p. 159. the readers Wintour would later target at ''Vogue''.Fortini, Amanda; 10 February 2005

''Slate''. Retrieved 6 December 2006.

The following year, she became fashion editor of '' New York.'' There, the fashion spreads and photo shoots she had been putting together for years finally began attracting attention. Editor Edward Kosner sometimes bent very strict rules for her and let her work on other sections of the magazine. She learned through her work on a cover involving Rachel Ward how effectively celebrity covers sold copies.Oppenheimer, 188. "Anna saw the celebrity thing coming before everyone else did", Grace Coddington said three decades later.''The September Issue'', 1:12:00. A former colleague arranged for an interview with ''Vogue'' editor Grace Mirabella that ended when Wintour told Mirabella she wanted her job.Gray, 4.Oppenheimer, p. 190.

Condé Nast

She went to work at ''Vogue'' when Alex Liberman, who was then the editorial director for Condé Nast and publisher of ''Vogue'', talked to Wintour about a position there in 1983. She eventually accepted after a bidding war that doubled her salary, becoming the magazine's first creative director, a position with vaguely defined responsibilities.Oppenheimer, p. 207. Her changes to the magazine were often made without Mirabella's knowledge, causing friction among the staff.Oppenheimer, pp. 208–10. She began dating child psychiatrist David Shaffer, an older acquaintance from London.Oppenheimer, 193. They married in 1984.Oppenheimer, p. 223.

In 1985, Wintour attained her first editorship, taking over the UK edition of ''Vogue'' after Beatrix Miller retired.Oppenheimer, 230. Once in charge, she replaced many of the staff and exerted far more control over the magazine than any previous editor had, earning the nickname "Nuclear Wintour" in the process.Oppenheimer, 243. Those editors who were retained began to refer to the period as "The Wintour of Our Discontent".Oppenheimer, 240. Her changes moved the magazine from its traditional eccentricity to a direction more in line with the American magazine. Wintour's ideal reader was the same woman ''Savvy'' had tried to reach. "There's a new kind of woman out there", she told the ''Evening Standard.'' "She's interested in business and money. She doesn't have time to shop anymore. She wants to know what and why and where and how."

In 1987, Wintour returned to New York to take over '' House & Garden.'' Its circulation had long lagged behind rival ''Architectural Digest,''Oppenheimer, 269. and Condé Nast hoped she could improve it. Again, she made radical changes to staff and look, canceling $2 million worth of photo spreads and articles in her first week.Zuckerman, Lawrence; 13 June 1988
The Dynamic Duo at Condé Nast
''Time''. Retrieved 8 February 2007. She put so much fashion in photo spreads that it became known as ''House & Garment'', and enough celebrities that it was referred to as ''Vanity Chair'', within the industry. These changes worsened the magazine's problems. When the title was shortened to just ''HG'', many longtime subscribers thought they were getting a new magazine and put it aside for the real thing to arrive. Most of those subscriptions were eventually canceled and, while some fashion advertisers came over, most of the magazine's traditional advertisers pulled out.Oppenheimer, 271.

Ten months later, she became editor of US ''Vogue''. Industry insiders worried that under Mirabella, the magazine was losing ground to the recently introduced American edition of ''Elle''. After making sweeping changes in staff, she changed the style of the cover pictures. Mirabella had preferred tight head shots of well-known models in studios; Wintour's covers showed more of the body and were taken outside, like those Diana Vreeland had done years earlier. She used less well-known models, and mixed inexpensive clothes with high fashion: the first issue she was in charge of, November 1988, featured a Peter Lindbergh photograph of 19-year-old Michaela Bercu in a $50 pair of faded jeans and a bejeweled jacket by Christian Lacroix worth $10,000. It was the first time a ''Vogue'' cover model had worn jeans; when the printer saw it they called the magazine's offices, thinking it was the wrong image.

In 2012, Wintour reflected on the cover:

Years later, Wintour admitted the photo had never been planned as the cover shot. In 2011, when ''Vogue'' put its entire archive online, Wintour was quoted as saying, "I just said, 'Well, let's just try this.' And off we went. It was just very natural. To me it just said, 'This is something new. This is something different.' The printers called to make sure that was supposed to be the cover, as they thought a mistake might have been made." In 2015, she said if she had to pick a favorite of her covers, it would be that one. " was a leap of faith and it was certainly a big change for ''Vogue''."

"Wintour's approach hit a nerve—this was the way real women put clothes together (with the likely exception of wearing multi-thousand-dollar T-shirts)", one reviewer says. On the June 1989 cover, model Estelle Lefebure was shown in wet hair, with just a bathrobe and no apparent makeup. Photographers, makeup artists, and hairstylists got credited along with the models. In August 2014, Gigi Hadid paid tribute to Wintour's first cover.

She exerts a great deal of control over the magazine's visual content. Since her first days as editor, she has required that photographers not begin until she has approved Polaroids of the setup and clothing. Afterwards, they must submit all their work to the magazine, not just their personal choices.Oppenheimer, p. 244.

Her control over the text is less certain. Her staff claim she reads everything written for publication,Oppenheimer, 325. but former editor Richard Story has claimed she rarely, if ever, reads any of ''Vogue''s arts coverage or book reviews.Oppenheimer, 326. Earlier in her career, she often left writing of the text that accompanied her layouts to others; former coworkers claim she has minimal skills in that area.Oppenheimer, pp. 70–71, 123–24, 161–62, 179–80. Today, she writes little for the magazine save the monthly editor's letter. She reportedly has three full-time assistants but sometimes surprises callers by answering the phone herself.Horyn, "Citizen Anna", 2.

1990s

Under her editorship, the magazine renewed its focus on fashion and returned to the prominence it had held under Vreeland. ''Vogue'' held its position as market leader against three contenders: ''Elle''; ''Harper's Bazaar'', which had lured away Liz Tilberis'', a magazine Rupert Murdoch created for Wintour's fired predecessor. Her most serious competitor was within the company: Tina Brown, editor of '' Vanity Fair'' and later ''The New Yorker''.Oppenheimer, pp. 293–96.

At the end of the decade, another of Wintour's inner circle left to run ''Harper's Bazaar''. Kate Betts, seen as Wintour's likely successor, had broadened the magazine's reach by commissioning stories with a more hard-news edge, about women in politics, street culture, and the financial difficulties of some major designers. She had also added the "Index" section, a few pages of tips meant to be torn out of the magazine. At staff meetings, she earned Wintour's respect as the only person who publicly challenged her.Gray, pg. 2.

The two began to disagree about the magazine's direction. Betts felt ''Vogue'' fashion coverage was getting too limited. Wintour in turn thought that the stories with popular culture angles Betts was assigning were beneath readers, and began pairing Betts with Plum Sykes, whom Betts reportedly detested as a "pretentious airhead". Eventually, she left, complaining to ''The New York Times'' that Wintour had not even sent her a baby gift. Wintour wrote an editor's letter that complimented Betts and wished her well.Gray, pg. 3.

2000s

Betts was one of several longtime editors to leave ''Vogue'' around the new millennium. A year later, Sykes, another putative successor, left to concentrate on her best-selling novels set in the city's upper classes and a screenplay. A number of other editors also left to assume the top jobs at other publications. While some of their replacements did not last, a new group of core editors formed.

The September 2004 issue was 832 pages, the largest issue of a monthly magazine ever published at that time, since exceeded by the September 2007 issue Cutler's documentary covered. Wintour oversaw the introduction of three spinoffs: ''Teen Vogue'', '' Vogue Living'' and ''Men's Vogue.'' ''Teen Vogue'' has published more ad pages and earned more advertiser revenue than either ''Elle Girl'' and ''Cosmo Girl'', and the 164 ad pages in the début issue of ''Men's Vogue'' were the most for a first issue in Condé Nast history. ''AdAge'' named her "Editor of the Year" for this brand expansion."Magazine Editor of the Year: Anna Wintour"
''Advertising Age'', 22 October 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2007.

Queen Elizabeth II appointed her Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.Anna Wintour awarded OBE
''The Daily Telegraph''. Retrieved 14 June 2008. However, 2008 was generally difficult year for ''Vogue'', as the economy worsened. After ruffling feathers at the Milan shows in February, the April issue's cover image of LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen brought criticism for its evocation of racial stereotypes. The next month a lavish Karl Lagerfeld gown she wore to the Met's Costume Institute Gala was called "the worst fashion ''faux pas'' of 2008". In the fall, ''Vogue Living'' was suspended indefinitely, and ''Men's Vogue'' cut back to two issues a year as an outsert or supplement to the women's magazine. At the end of the year, December's cover highlighted a disparaging comment Jennifer Aniston made about Angelina Jolie, to the former's displeasure; media observers began speculating that Wintour had lost her touch.

In 2008, rumours arose that she would retire, and be replaced by French ''Vogue'' editor Carine Roitfeld. An editor at Russian '' GQ'' reportedly introduced Russian ''Vogue'' editor Aliona Doletskaya as the next editor of American ''Vogue''. Condé Nast responded by taking out a full-page ad in ''The New York Times'' defending her record. In that same publication, Cathy Horyn later wrote that while Wintour had not lost her touch, the magazine had become "stale and predictable", as a reader had recently complained. "To read ''Vogue'' in recent years is to wonder about the peculiar fascination for the 'villa in Tuscany' story", Horyn added. The magazine also dealt awkwardly with the recession, she commented.

In 2009, Wintour began making more media appearances. On a ''60 Minutes'' profile, she said she would not retire. "To me this is a really interesting time to be in this position and I think it would be in a way irresponsible not to put my best foot forward and lead us into a different time."Safer, 4. A documentary film, ''The September Issue'', by ''The War Room'' producer R.J. Cutler, about the production of the September 2007 issue, was released in September. It focused on the sometimes-difficult relationship between Wintour and creative director Grace Coddington. Wintour appeared on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' to promote it, defending the relevance of fashion in a tough economy. The American Society of Magazine Editors elected her to its Hall of Fame in 2010.

2010s

In 2013, Condé Nast announced she would be taking on the position of artistic director for the company's magazines while remaining at ''Vogue''. She assumed some of the responsibilities of Si Newhouse, the company's longtime chairman, who, in his mid-80s at the time, was retreating from his role at Condé Nast to oversee managing Advance Publications, its parent company. A company spokesman told ''The New York Times'' the position was created to keep Wintour. She described it as "an extension of what I am doing, but on a broader scale."

In January 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art named its Costume Institute complex after Wintour; First Lady Michelle Obama opened it in May of that year. Wintour starred in '' The Fashion Fund'', which aired on Ovation TV that year as well; she was named the 39th most powerful woman in the world by ''Forbes''.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of '' The Devil Wears Prada'' release, in 2016, '' The Ringer'' noted how Wintour's personal image had evolved since that film's depiction of Miranda Priestley. "A decade ago this summer, Wintour became a living, breathing avatar for a certain kind of boss—the terrible kind, with 'great' a halfhearted asterisk", wrote Alison Herman. "''The Devil Wears Prada'' transformed Wintour's image from that of a mere public figure into that of a cultural icon."

But since then, "Wintour isn't just redeemed. She's openly admired, Arctic chill and all." The grievances reflected in the novel and film "eemlike an increasingly petty complaint when held up against a readership that remains well into the seven figures and the undisputed edge in ad sales that comes with it. Wintour is seemingly the only person on earth who knows how to run a steady print operation in 2016 ... At 10 years old, Miranda Priestley is iconic but ever-so-slightly out of date. Anna Wintour is still the boss..."

In a May 2017 ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Wintour was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to fashion and journalism. According to a January 2017 report in ''The Nation'', an American news magazine, it was rumored that Wintour would have become the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom had Hillary Clinton been elected President of the United States the previous November.

2020s

In May 2020, former editor-at-large, André Leon Talley, released his second memoir, ''The Chiffon Trenches'', which exposed Talley and Wintour's personal fall out in 2018 after he was discontinued as ''Vogue''s Met Gala red carpet reporter.

Following the murder of George Floyd, Wintour was reported to have issued an apology to staff for ''Vogue''s complicity in racism, stating the magazine had "not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators".

On 15 December 2020, Condé Nast promoted Wintour to the role of chief content officer, worldwide, as part of a restructuring the company unveiled. In addition, she will be working as global editorial director of ''Vogue''.

Influence in fashion industry

Through the years, she has come to be regarded as one of the most powerful people in fashion, setting trends, and anointing new designers. Industry publicists often hear "Do you want me to go to Anna with this?" when they have differences with her subordinates. ''The Guardian'' has called her the "unofficial mayoress" of New York City.Pilkington, Ed; 5 December 2006
Central Bark
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 6 December 2006. She has encouraged fashion houses such as Christian Dior to hire younger, fresher designers such as John Galliano. Her influence extends outside fashion. She persuaded Donald Trump to let Marc Jacobs use a ballroom at the Plaza Hotel for a show when Jacobs and his partner were short of cash. In 2006, she persuaded Brooks Brothers to hire the relatively unknown Thom Browne.Horyn, "Citizen Anna", 1. A protégée at ''Vogue'', Plum Sykes, became a successful novelist, drawing her settings from New York's fashionable élite.

Her salary was reported to be $2 million a year in 2005.26 September 2005
Who Makes How Much – New York's Salary Guide
''New York''. Retrieved 3 March 2007. In addition, she receives several perks, such as a chauffeured Mercedes S-Class (both in New York and abroad), a $200,000 shopping allowance, and the Coco Chanel Suite at the Hotel Ritz Paris while attending European fashion shows. Condé Nast president S.I. Newhouse had the company make her an interest-free $1.6 million loan to purchase her townhouse in Greenwich Village.Oppenheimer, pg. 29.

Personal life

At the age of 15, Wintour began dating well-connected, older men. She was involved briefly with Piers Paul Read, then 24.Oppenheimer, 31–35. In her later teens, she and gossip columnist Nigel Dempster became a fixture on the London club circuit.Oppenheimer, 36–37.

She had two children with David Shaffer following their 1984 marriage: Charles (Charlie) born 1985 and Katherine (known as Bee) born 1987. Charlie is a graduate of the University of Oxford and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Bee graduated from Columbia University in 2009 and wrote occasional columns for ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2006,Alexander, Hilary; 15 February 2006
Wintour comes in from the cold
''The Daily Telegraph''. Retrieved 7 February 2007. but says she will not follow her mother into fashion.''The September Issue'', 0:35. Bee married Italian-born director Francesco Carrozzini, son of ''Vogue Italia'' editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani in 2018.

Wintour and Shaffer divorced in 1999. Newspapers and gossip columnists claimed her affair with investor Shelby Bryan ended the marriage.Oppenheimer, 341–42, She declined to comment.Gray, 1.Oppenheimer, 342. A former colleague quoted in the ''Observer'' says that Bryan has mellowed her and that " e smiles now and has been seen to laugh".25 June 2006;
Meet the acid queen of New York fashion
; ''The Observer''. Retrieved 7 February 2007. Wintour split with Bryan in 2020.

Wintour is also involved with charities. She serves as a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she has organised benefits that have raised $50 million for the museum's Costume Institute. She began the CFDA/Vogue Fund in order to encourage, support and mentor unknown fashion designers. She has also raised over $10 million for AIDS charities since 1990, by organising various high-profile benefits.

As of 2016, Wintour lived in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan.Kurutz, Steven
"What Do Anna Wintour and Bob Dylan Have in Common? This Secret Garden"
''The New York Times'', 28 September 2016. Accessed 3 November 2016. "The house is part of the Macdougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District, a landmarked community of 21 row homes, with 11 lining Macdougal Street and 10 running parallel on Sullivan Street." She says she rises at 5:30 a.m., plays tennis and has her hair and makeup done, then gets to ''Vogue''s offices two hours later. She always arrives at fashion shows well before their scheduled start. "I use the waiting time to make phone calls and notes; I get some of my best ideas at the shows", she says.

At work

According to the BBC
...