Anna Wintour to Step Down as US Vogue Editor-in-Chief

[Lucien112]

Six weeks after Edward announced his EE72 mag? Tell me you're out of the running without telling me you're out of the running.

 

[vogue22]

He has his own consulting company, that what he's always wanted, I can't see him taking the job just now.

 

[tigerrouge]

I can't blame Anna Wintour for having the self-interest to ensure she didn't have any competition to oust her, but in playing that game of chess, Conde Nast are now in the position of not having cultivated enough talent to have serious contenders to choose from.

 

[theshadedgaze]

Thank heavens he is out of the running. He’s great at styling, for the most part. But he just lacks too much for such an important role.

 

[aracic]

I nominate Mel Ottenberg lmao

There's not an editor alive who could fill the shoes of Anna Wintour. I doubt there's an upside to this, I'm afraid it's only going to be downhill from here. Truly an end of an era!

 

[aracic]

I nominate Mel Ottenberg lmao

There's not an editor alive who could fill the shoes of Anna Wintour. I doubt there's an upside to this, I'm afraid it's only going to be downhill from here. Truly an end of an era!

I stand corrected. I forgot about Baron! God, what a dream that would be. Never going to happen, though.

 

[yslforever]

He has his own consulting company, that what he's always wanted, I can't see him taking the job just now.

Vogue Editors have always consulted as a side-hustle. Never cheap. They make more money consulting than from Condé Nast(y).

 

[Marc10]

I nominate Mel Ottenberg lmao

There's not an editor alive who could fill the shoes of Anna Wintour. I doubt there's an upside to this, I'm afraid it's only going to be downhill from here. Truly an end of an era!

Unironically, I would too…

To me what made Anna so successful, besides the actual editor work, was that she always seemed to have her finger on the pulse of culture and knew how to keep Vogue relevant in the zeitgeist. The closest person I saw to that was Edward, and for a while it seemed like he was the perfect successor. Even though I’m not a fan of the editorial work of Interview, Mel has that quality as well. With the right team, I think he could shake things up there. But ultimately I don’t think he would fit with Anna’s vision.

 

[TerraVera]

how true is it that bezos is allegedly buying CN for his second wife? if so, i know this once grand juggernaut is going to crash and burn

anyways, she's still gonna be around pulling string, intimidating newbies, and being her infamously delightful self. i would rather a woman editor step into the role than a man, but that's my opinion.

hope her last cover is strong because to end on a weak note wouldn't be tragic but disappointing in the least for such a tenure she had

 

[mepps]

Anna isn't going anywhere, and will never be replaced. She will continue to oversee all of the Vogue's, and will hire a "content editor", to do the day to day tasks at American Vogue. Nothing to see here.

 

[Salvatore]

A lot of words for nothing to actually change in the end. I will believe it when I see it.

 

[pradn]

I stand corrected. I forgot about Baron! God, what a dream that would be. Never going to happen, though.

I stand with you!
Fabien Baron? THAT WOULD BE A FEVER DREAM! (A fab one, obviously!)
His era at Interview was pure visual glory!!
But hey… We can dream, Right?

 

[KoV]

There's not an editor alive who could fill the shoes of Anna Wintour. I doubt there's an upside to this, I'm afraid it's only going to be downhill from here. Truly an end of an era!

And they're not even pretending otherwise, "head of editorial content" just doesn't carry a whole lot of weight. Anna's still the boss. Wonder if she'll move to London as her primary now.

 

[helmutnotdead]

Honestly...who cares? Such a shame that a power figure like her didn't have the wow reaction from the public like Carine when she was fired 15 years ago. If she resigned in 2015, the impact would have been huge. These days nobody cares about her or what happens around Condé Nast. American Vogue is absolutely dead.

 

[vogue28]

Always had a huge amount of respect for Anna Wintour, and will always hold her in extremely high regard. Anna stepping down at Vogue was inevitable but it’s still kinda surprising and unsettling when news like this drops.

 

[Lola701]

It’s a bit similar to what happened at Essence magazine.
Ultimately, I think it’s maybe more fun for Anna to organize events around Vogue than to deal with the day to day issues of the magazine.

I have tremendous respect for her.
For better or worse, she became an authority in fashion and culture and her taste shaped in some ways fashion as it is today.

Vogue the magazine hasn’t been really my taste since 2009 but for me her legacy is in the talents she championed. I don’t know if she loves fashion but she really supported /loved designers, sometimes against suits.

I can't blame Anna Wintour for having the self-interest to ensure she didn't have any competition to oust her, but in playing that game of chess, Conde Nast are now in the position of not having cultivated enough talent to have serious contenders to choose from.

For me, the question is not even about competition. I think she made her position be so much than what it was than it became too much. She was ambitious and her ambition grew as her power grew. Being the EIC of Vogue comes with so much baggage, corporatism than you can’t nurture that type of talent.

In the 90’s, Liz was kind of a competition because it was magazines against magazines. Vogue and Bazaar were toe to toe.

I think US Vogue will suffer. Even an Edward doesn’t have that aura. And from the POV of a magazine, I don’t know how Vogue US, with American Puritanism, conservatism, corporatism and such celebrity-obsessed culture could really be refreshed.

I don’t think US Vogue should have as a leading voice an ex-stylist. It may compromise the power dynamic. I think that the fact that Anna never worked for a brand gave her an added aura that ultimately, stylists turned EIC didn’t have. And it allowed her to have relations with CEOs instead.

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Is it true that Bezos will buy CN???

 

[NYLA22]

You summed up my thoughts.. I'm happy she's beginning to fade a little because she really represents the dark side of fashion that decimates competition like a vulture, and manipulates talent only for the benefit of her own product, and certainly exiled it and isolated it if you dared crossing her. That old guard will leave for natural reasons but if they could do it in a dignified way and not as if they were politicians (aka on their deathbed), that would be help the industry a lot!

On the other hand, the product itself (a magazine) is archaic, it's just not going to last so I'm not expecting any new chapter to mean anything. I think the damage is done. Hopefully the absence will bring in oxygen that will open up new creative opportunities for a new generation, not in this company but in terms of how they sell fashion to audiences.

I'm curious what you think about this current print resurgence we've been seeing (I'm thinking of the glossy bi-annual magazines that I see now that are as thick as phone books) and what, if anything, that means for the overall print landscape. Do you think mainstream mags would adopt any of this to survive in the future? For example, reduce frequency to a quarterly and truly make it a luxury product, with the rest of its resources being spent online?

 

[NYLA22]

It’s a bit similar to what happened at Essence magazine.
Ultimately, I think it’s maybe more fun for Anna to organize events around Vogue than to deal with the day to day issues of the magazine.

I have tremendous respect for her.
For better or worse, she became an authority in fashion and culture and her taste shaped in some ways fashion as it is today.

Vogue the magazine hasn’t been really my taste since 2009 but for me her legacy is in the talents she championed. I don’t know if she loves fashion but she really supported /loved designers, sometimes against suits.


For me, the question is not even about competition. I think she made her position be so much than what it was than it became too much. She was ambitious and her ambition grew as her power grew. Being the EIC of Vogue comes with so much baggage, corporatism than you can’t nurture that type of talent.

In the 90’s, Liz was kind of a competition because it was magazines against magazines. Vogue and Bazaar were toe to toe.

I think US Vogue will suffer. Even an Edward doesn’t have that aura. And from the POV of a magazine, I don’t know how Vogue US, with American Puritanism, conservatism, corporatism and such celebrity-obsessed culture could really be refreshed.

I don’t think US Vogue should have as a leading voice an ex-stylist. It may compromise the power dynamic. I think that the fact that Anna never worked for a brand gave her an added aura that ultimately, stylists turned EIC didn’t have. And it allowed her to have relations with CEOs instead.

I totally agree. For better or worse, Anna is a once-in-a-generation figure in the media world. And her career certainly could not be replicated again now. Truly the end of an era.

 

[MulletProof]

I'm curious what you think about this current print resurgence we've been seeing (I'm thinking of the glossy bi-annual magazines that I see now that are as thick as phone books) and what, if anything, that means for the overall print landscape. Do you think mainstream mags would adopt any of this to survive in the future? For example, reduce frequency to a quarterly and truly make it a luxury product, with the rest of its resources being spent online?

you're asking the least qualified person 🥲... @tigerrouge knows best!