From The Guardian UK .
The Wintour collection
The Vogue stable is expanding, as Men's Vogue and Vogue Living are to launch in the US. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, and arguably fashion's most influential person, told the news to a soldout crowd at the British Museum on Wednesday night.
Giving a rare public address, Wintour appeared without her trademark Chanel sunglasses, but sporting that immaculate bob and a next-season Prada dress. She described what it is like to edit what she endearingly calls "Big Vogue": "It's like planning a dinner party. You need to have the pretty girl, the controversy, and something reassuring." After 17 years at the helm, she remains a hands-on perfectionist: she has a dummy of the magazine biked to her house every night.
After launching the handbag-sized Teen Vogue in the US with great success in 2003, Wintour and Condé Nast chief Si Newhouse decided to explore other "neglected" areas of the market. "Magazines like GQ, especially with their new editor, are appealing to a younger audience and no longer talking to the sophisticated, mature man, which is what Men's Vogue will do," Wintour said. Vogue Living, in turn, will reflect how "the way we live is increasingly intertwined with fashion."
Wintour also paid tribute to the importance of the emerging markets of China and India for the global fashion industry. Chinese Vogue is set to launch by this September.
And are musicians the new fashion designers? At the recent MET Costume Institute gala in homage to Coco Chanel, Wintour sat next to Andre 3000 and watched Marilyn Manson mingling with Lily Safra. She feels that in the near future music's influence on fashion will continue to grow. "We will see Gwen Stefani's range LAMB competing with Donna Karan's DKNY."
But not every singer-turned-fashion guru will succeed. Wintour feels Stefani's individual style, "genuine integrity", and business acumen give her an obvious edge over the vanity labels founded by lesser artists. "Jessica Simpson is unlikely to fare so well," she predicted, with uncharacteristic understatement.
Asked from the floor which fashion designer she would save in the unlikely event of an imminent apocalypse, Wintour had no doubts about nominating Coco Chanel. This seminal figure, she feels, remains the touchstone for all aspiring designers: "In the same way, Mrs Kennedy was fashion's last great megastar." One daring, not to say foolhardy, fashonista went where nobody who wants to work in fashion should ever go - he questioned La Wintour's personal style: "Anna, I'm loving the shoes and the hair but I'm not so sure about the dress." Where once you might have expected an explosion, she batted him away with amused contempt. Who knows? Maybe "Nuclear Wintour" is thawing.
Lee Wallick
I'd certainly be very interested in a VOGUE MEN .
The Wintour collection
The Vogue stable is expanding, as Men's Vogue and Vogue Living are to launch in the US. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, and arguably fashion's most influential person, told the news to a soldout crowd at the British Museum on Wednesday night.
Giving a rare public address, Wintour appeared without her trademark Chanel sunglasses, but sporting that immaculate bob and a next-season Prada dress. She described what it is like to edit what she endearingly calls "Big Vogue": "It's like planning a dinner party. You need to have the pretty girl, the controversy, and something reassuring." After 17 years at the helm, she remains a hands-on perfectionist: she has a dummy of the magazine biked to her house every night.
After launching the handbag-sized Teen Vogue in the US with great success in 2003, Wintour and Condé Nast chief Si Newhouse decided to explore other "neglected" areas of the market. "Magazines like GQ, especially with their new editor, are appealing to a younger audience and no longer talking to the sophisticated, mature man, which is what Men's Vogue will do," Wintour said. Vogue Living, in turn, will reflect how "the way we live is increasingly intertwined with fashion."
Wintour also paid tribute to the importance of the emerging markets of China and India for the global fashion industry. Chinese Vogue is set to launch by this September.
And are musicians the new fashion designers? At the recent MET Costume Institute gala in homage to Coco Chanel, Wintour sat next to Andre 3000 and watched Marilyn Manson mingling with Lily Safra. She feels that in the near future music's influence on fashion will continue to grow. "We will see Gwen Stefani's range LAMB competing with Donna Karan's DKNY."
But not every singer-turned-fashion guru will succeed. Wintour feels Stefani's individual style, "genuine integrity", and business acumen give her an obvious edge over the vanity labels founded by lesser artists. "Jessica Simpson is unlikely to fare so well," she predicted, with uncharacteristic understatement.
Asked from the floor which fashion designer she would save in the unlikely event of an imminent apocalypse, Wintour had no doubts about nominating Coco Chanel. This seminal figure, she feels, remains the touchstone for all aspiring designers: "In the same way, Mrs Kennedy was fashion's last great megastar." One daring, not to say foolhardy, fashonista went where nobody who wants to work in fashion should ever go - he questioned La Wintour's personal style: "Anna, I'm loving the shoes and the hair but I'm not so sure about the dress." Where once you might have expected an explosion, she batted him away with amused contempt. Who knows? Maybe "Nuclear Wintour" is thawing.
Lee Wallick
I'd certainly be very interested in a VOGUE MEN .
