It’s the end of a fashion era. On June 26, after almost forty years at the helm of the most venerable fashion magazine in the world, Anna Wintour shared with staff that she was ending her tenure as editor-in-chief of Vogue.
But this does not mean the end of Wintour’s influence in the Vogue sphere – far from it. As Vogue reports, while Wintour will continue in her roles as global chief content officer for Condé Nast—overseeing editorial for brands, including WIRED, Vanity Fair, GQ, AD, Condé Nast Traveler, Glamour, Bon Appétit, Tatler, World of Interiors, Allure, Teen Vogue, Ars Technica, and Them – as well as overall global editorial director for Vogue, the as-yet-to-be-named head of Vogue US’s editorial content will lead the magazine’s daily operations across platforms. The person who fills that role will report directly to Wintour, in keeping with the heads of editorial content at all Vogues.
Over the last four years, Wintour’s role at Condé Nast has vastly expanded, her remit across the company’s global titles growing alongside her work editing Vogue US and overseeing events including Vogue World and the Met Gala. In effect, the addition of a new editorial lead for Vogue US will allow Wintour greater time and flexibility to support the other global markets that Condé Nast serves.
“Anybody in a creative field knows how essential it is never to stop growing in one’s work,” Wintour told Vogue staff in a meeting on Thursday. “When I became the editor of Vogue, I was eager to prove to all who might listen that there was a new, exciting way to imagine an American fashion magazine.”
“Now, I find that my greatest pleasure is helping the next generation of impassioned editors storm the field with their own ideas, supported by a new, exciting view of what a major media company can be. And that is exactly the kind of person we need to now look for to be HOEC for US Vogue.”
She went on to add that on a practical level, many of her responsibilities at Vogue would remain the same, “including paying very close attention to the fashion industry and the creative cultural force that is our extraordinary Met Ball and charting the course of future Vogue Worlds and any other original fearless ideas we may come up with. And it goes without saying that I plan to remain Vogue’s tennis and theater editor in perpetuity.
“But how thrilling it will be,” she concluded, “to work alongside someone new who will challenge us, inspire us, and make us all think about Vogue in a myriad of original ways.”
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