In an Instagram post on April 16, longtime Glamour Editor-in-Chief Samantha Barry announced she’s stepping down from her role at the magazine after eight years.
As Fashionista reports, Barry’s post came just a few hours after Roger Lynch, the chief executive of Condé Nast, announced in a memo to employees that the publisher will be closing Glamour‘s international editions in Germany, Spain and Mexico, which Barry began overseeing after being named Glamour‘s first Global Editorial Director in October 2024. Lynch also shared that health and wellness publication Self would shutter, with its content being folded into other Condé Nast brands such as Glamour.
In her post, Barry wrote, “As the title’s business model evolved, I made clear to Anna [Wintour] and leadership at Condé [Nast] that this was the right moment to leave and pursue new projects. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while and with changes to our global operations now is the time.”
“We took the brand to new digital heights, diversified our audience and revenue, and launched campaigns that genuinely moved the needle for women,” Barry continued in her statement. “Working alongside Anna Wintour, who championed me at every turn, has been one of my greatest professional privileges.”
Barry joined Glamour as editor in chief in 2018, coming from CNN, where she served as executive producer for social and emerging media. At the time of her hiring, Wintour announced Barry as “Glamour‘s first digital-native editor,” calling her a leader with “both a reverence for Glamour‘s history and a crystal clear view of its future in the digital environment.”
On the same day Barry announced her departure, eight full-time staff members at Glamour were laid off, leaving a remaining team of nine employees (four on the commerce team, two on editorial, one on video and one on photo). In his public memo, Lynch briefly noted that certain teams would be “reorganized” in accordance with the publication’s “new strategy,” but did not directly mention specifics. Condé Nast did not immediately respond to Fashionista’s request for comment.
To conclude her statement, Barry wrote, “Storytelling has always been at the heart of my career and ambitions, and I’m excited by what comes next.”
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