Anna Wintour
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Anna Wintour (born November 3, 1949 in London, England) is the Editor-in-Chief of the U.S. edition of Vogue, a position she has held since 1988.
Wintour is an icon of the fashion world as well as occasionally appearing on the International Best Dressed List. Her personal style is best identified by her ubiquitous sunglasses and by her hairstyle, a pageboy cut some have compared to a Louise Brooks bob.
Biography
Early Life
Wintour was born in London. Her father, Charles Wintour, was a former editor of The Evening Standard and her mother was Elinor (or Eleanor) Baker. Her mother, often referred to as an heiress, which may or may not be the case, was the daughter of a Harvard professor. The family included three other children: Jimmy, the eldest, an assistant director of housing for the Lambeth Borough Council; Nora, who works at an international organization in Geneva; and Patrick, the youngest, who was a labour correspondent at The Guardian and who became the the political editor at The Observer in 1996.
Wintour was educated at North London Collegiate School, but never graduated.
Career
She started working in fashion magazines in 1970 in London. She became editor of British Vogue in 1986 and of House & Garden in 1987. In the latter position, she was so fond of putting couture in photo spreads that industry wags began to refer to the magazine as House & Garment. She did, however, turn both magazines around, increasing their circulation.
She was expected to do the same at Vogue, which had, under her predecessor Grace Mirabella, become more focused on lifestyles as a whole and less on fashion. Industry insiders worried that it was losing ground to the upstart ELLE. Under Wintour's editorship, the magazine renewed its focus on fashion and returned to the prominence it had held under Diana Vreeland. However, since Wintour's editorship, many critics have charged that instead of models, celebrities are becoming the face of the monthly magazine. Indeed, a wide range of prominent women have graced the front cover of Vogue, from Oscar-winning actresses (Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, and Angelina Jolie) to celebrities (Melania Trump) and politicians (Hillary Clinton). Additionally, Wintour is known to be an avid and effective champion of the fashion industry. She has played a great part in the success stories of the designers John Galliano (of Christian Dior) and Michael Kors.
Personal Life
She has often been the target of various animal rights organizations such as P.E.T.A who are angered by her use of fur in Vogue and her refusal to run paid advertisements from animal rights organizations. Undeterred, she continues to use fur in photo spreads. She is routinely assaulted by activists over this matter. According to the New York Times, "Last season...in Paris a woman ran up to [her] and slammed her with some bloody matter packed into a pie tin...an activist outside the Dolce and Gabbana show nailed her with a flour bomb." She herself said she has been physically attacked so many times she's "lost count."
She was previously married to child psychiatrist David Shaffer and has two children by him, Charles (Charlie) and Katherine (known as Bee). She is now involved with investor Shelby Bryan.
Wintour is also a noted philanthropist. She is a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and has worked to create attention for young and emerging fashion designers. She is also a major fundraiser for AIDS charities. Wintour began the CFDA/Vogue Fund in order to encourage, support and mentor unknown fashion designers.
Memoirs and Biographies
In 2003, Lauren Weisberger, Wintour's former assistant, authored the best selling roman à clef The Devil Wears Prada. Weisberger allegedly modeled the book's antagonist on Wintour, but Weisberger denies this.
In 2005, Wintour was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jerry Oppenheimer, Front Row: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor In Chief. Oppenheimer previously authored books on American icons such as Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Jerry Seinfeld, and Ethel Kennedy.
In mid-2006, the movie The Devil Wears Prada was released based on the book by the same name. Actress Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of the fictional Runway fashion magazine. These are widely believed to be based on Anna Wintour and Vogue magazine, respectively.
Streep, however, denies her portrayal was based on Wintour, whom the actress says she only met at the first benefit screening of the film. Despite knowing the role was allegedly based on Wintour, she stated she had no interest in doing a documentary on the Vogue editor, preferring to draw her inspiration from an amalgam of uberbosses she's met over the years.
External links
- ["The Devil Wears Teflon"] New York Times July 10, 2006
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