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Most Powerful Fashion Editors
Kiri Blakeley, 06.29.06, 12:30 AM ET
It may be full of beautiful people and beautiful clothing, but the fashion business isn't necessarily pretty.
Drama and defeat, rivalries petty and profound, the glamorous and the grotesque--all combine to make fashion one of the toughest industries around. But as in every field, power is everything--in this case, the power to shift popular tastes, create design celebrities and sell billions of dollars worth of clothing, accessories and makeup.
Creative talents like Marc Jacobs, Donatella Versace, Zac Posen and Oscar de la Renta may rule the runways. But whether or not designers become stars, with billions of dollars worth of business--and influence on billions more in rip-off designs that appear in malls throughout the world--depends on a select few people. Namely, fashion editors.
Is it any wonder they are so feared, so respected, and in some cases, so despised?
In the new film The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep plays assistant-torturing fashion editrix Miranda Priestly. That's "the devil" wears Prada. Not "the worst boss," or even "the-pain-in-the-rear editor," but the out-and-out ruler of fire-filled hell.
The movie is based on the book by Lauren Weisberger, who did a stint as assistant to Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and the single most powerful fashion editor in the world. Publisher Random House doesn't mention Vogue or Wintour in the press release or author Q&A on its website. The stars of the film have been careful not to draw parallels in interviews. Weisberger herself has said the character is drawn from the work experiences of several friends and acquaintances. But, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman says that the book is based on Weisberger's experience with Wintour.
No matter. Even Wintour knows who the movie is about. She attended a screening of the movie, which preceded a benefit for breast cancer research. A spokesperson at Vogue says Wintour found the film "very entertaining."
Volumes have been written on Wintour's legendary iciness: reportedly, no one in her offices is permitted to look at or speak to her unless she initiates contact. And pity the newbie who doesn't let Wintour ride the elevator alone. In Toby Young's memoir of working at Conde Nast, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, he describes a scene in which Wintour fell flat on her face in a hallway, and a young intern stepped over her prostrate body rather than express concern and risk getting fired.
" Vogue and Wintour are so dominant in the fashion world," says Conor Kennedy, creative director of Elite Model Management, which sends 25 models a year to the Vogue offices to be personally vetted by Wintour. "In America, she's really the only larger-than-life editor."
If Wintour likes a model, she becomes a star. If she doesn't, well, back to Kansas. The same can be said of designers.
While Wintour may be the only editor to inspire a Meryl Streep performance, she's not the only one who is incredibly influential. The late Diana Vreeland, who helmed both American Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, may be the most legendary fashion editor ever (even Wintour doesn't come close), but there's no shortage of power in Prada heels today.
To assemble our list of some of the most powerful fashion editors in the country, Forbes spoke to numerous sources within the modeling and fashion world--not surprisingly, the same names popped up again and again.
They were usually the top editors at the fashion magazines with the largest circulations, with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar leading the way. Glenda Bailey of Harper's is generally considered the good witch to Wintour's bad. And serious gatekeepers can often be found a few notches down the masthead, such as Grace Coddington, creative director of Vogue, on whom Wintour relies heavily, and groundbreaking Fashion Director Alexandra White, who has made W a must-read for fashion world, despite its small circulation numbers and scarcity outside of New York and Los Angeles magazine stands.
In compiling the list, which is not ranked, we looked at circulation numbers, but also considered how influential a magazine is, regardless of how many people buy it. As in the case of W, readers may simply be exactly the right people. We looked for editors who not only have influence in the fashion world, but have changed the way their magazines--or, in the case of Amy Astley-run Teen Vogue, entire market segments--are perceived. Taking a book in a successful new direction is obviously a plus, as is doubling circulation. To keep the list manageable, we restricted it to female editors (sorry, Gilles Bensimon of Elle) of American magazines (pardonnez-nous, Marie-Amelie Sauve of French Vogue).
It's no coincidence, by the way, that many on our list worked for Wintour at some point. Sounds less like the devil and more like a queenmaker.
forbes.com
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karma!
