RSS
Home
Rumors say, American Vogue's Anna Wintour to be replaced by French counterpart
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Does it mean – a new era, Parisian invasion, smoking is officially allowed on the 17th floor of the 48-story tower of The Condé Nast Building?
The era of "The Devil Wears Prada," rumored, is set to be ended in 2009. Anna Wintour, the Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue, is said to be replaced by the French counterpart, Carine Roitfeld, French Vogue Editor-in-Chief.
(Anna Wintour and her famous trademarks - bob and ‘shades’)
Anna Wintour headed over Vogue for more than 20 years, feeding Page 6 (of New York Post) column with all the juicy details of her rivals, divorces and relations with the publishing world for more than two decades, bringing profits to the New York paparazzi and the Australian-born publishing billionaire and mogul, Rupert Murdoch.
(Carine Roitfeld, French Vogue)
Condé Nast is keeping it under wraps, prepping for hot and delicious launch of the news that the “iron” woman, Mrs. Wintour, is about to step off and leave Vogue’s destiny to the new management.
(Anna Wintour, American Vogue - a strong believer of a size "00" woman)
Long adored and respected high fashion and lifestyle publication saw tremendous growth in prestige over the years when Wintour headed the magazine. Wintour has been known for having an “iron” hand and straight-forward-to-the-point-of-meaniness personality when it came to identifying new trends and making everyone around work extra hard in putting together a magazine that would definite fashion, art and culture trends long before everyone did: spotting new designers first, reviewing films, books, music and art long before it’s even in print or out of a recording studio, and managing to put so much pressure on its creative, editorial and production staff members that many people saw their family lives decline over career growth. The longer they worked long hours, the shorter were the marriage/relationship years for some of the magazine members. But you must admit – Wintour put her staff through a hard-core school of everything one needs to know about working at and managing a number one magazine in the world – Vogue.
.jpg)
The change of the upper personnel, or the Goddess herself - Mrs. Wintour - triggered multiple rumors of the reasons behind the change: could it be the closure and personal embarrassment for her project's failure, Men’s Vogue? Or could it be the slipping numbers of Vogue subscribers itself? However, blame it on the economy, not on the Vogue’s management. Many people gave up the luxury of leisure home subscriptions for cheaper versions of readings – like free magazine readings at Barnes and Noble and The Border’s Café book stores. One can always get a cappuccino and a free reading to go with it at those places without paying a cent for a publication. You do it, I do it – everyone seems to do it nowadays.
.jpg)
(Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestley, aka Anna Wintour, in The Devil Wears Prada)
Whatever might be the reason for Wintour’s leave, we are still sadden by the departure of the icon herself – Anna Wintour, who inspired her one-time assistant, Lauren Weisberger, to write the best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, in 2003. The book generated enough dough for Ms. Weisberger to leave her one-time position at Vogue and prosper from book and film sales, while continuing writing more on “same-like” characters and life-styles (to whom I say: “stop it now, don’t ruin your first entertaining novel – leave the publishing world with grace, while it is still there.”)
And while the “horrific” descriptions of daily life scenes at the magazine, where girls eat nothing but a few leaves of salad, and everyone withstands the verbal abuse and criticism from the editor-in-chief herself, the success of both the novel and the movie, nevertheless, has brought new attention and fascination with the glamour of working at a fashion magazine.
But Anne Wintour (brilliantly played by Meryl Streep in the film) did more than just inspiring an assistant to write a true-to-life novel on fashion industry, she also helped to raise Vogue to the statue of the global dominance over the world of fashion with the largest subscription base, as well as helped to “nurture” up-and-coming talented designers and writers. And that’s a huge job to handle for a petite woman!
Vogue, or the magazine “any girl out there worships, but won’t admit”
Vogue, founded as a bimonthly publication by Arthur Baldwin Turnure in 1892, was taken over by Condé Nast in 1909 and prospered during the Depression and WWII periods. Perhaps, because it was a piece of luxury that made women and men forget about all the negative things in life at that time? Either way, the magazine’s title rose up.
(Left: Nan Kempner, of who Vreeland famously remarked “There’s no such thing as a chic American woman. The one exception is Nan Kempner;” Right: Diana Vreeland, 1903-1989)
With the editor-in-chief, Diana Vreeland, Vogue began to appeal to the youth of the sexual revolution in 1960 and focused more on contemporary fashion and stories that discussed sexuality and youth issues.
Vogue was the first to discover and feature such household names of models as Suzy Parker, Twiggy, and Penelope Tree.
(Famous Twiggy, whose chopped cut inspired many fashionistas and celebrities)
When Anna Wintour became American Vogue editor-in-chief in 1988, she instantly became known for trademark bob and wearing over-sized sunglasses indoors. Since taking over, Wintour has worked to protect the magazine's high status and reputation among fashion publications. In order to do so, she has made the magazine focus on new and more accessible ideas of fashion for a wider audience. And it paid off, the circulation has jumped.
Wintour’s reputation as of a woman of great taste and tremendous foresight, made her presence at fashion shows an indicator of the designer's high profile and acknowledgement within the industry. (This has been very well shown in The Devil Wears Prada film as well.)
Inside and outside the industry, Wintour generates very conflicting emotions, from fright to respect, from annoyance to devotion, from ignorance to appreciation. There are a lot of people who attribute their career rise and recognition to her guidance and advice, but there are also a lot of people who consider her a harsh and brutal woman, who demeans her staff.
Perhaps we do need a French revolution at American Vogue, or at least a taste of another woman’s work ethics and vision. It’ll be interesting to see what Mrs. Carine Roitfeld will bring to American Vogue – perhaps a touch of natural French taste in fashion and less political correctness? I hope so.
Related Articles:
Comments
