For years, there have been rumors about Anna Wintour’s career decline, that she did not have the full support of Conde Nast, that she would retire at any moment. That whole time, Wintour has been gaining power within Conde Nast. In addition to her title as editor-in-chief of American Vogue, she was named Conde Nast’s artistic director in 2013, and Conde Nast’s global content adviser in 2019. Several months ago, Wintour was given a few more gaudy titles: worldwide chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue. Meaning, she’s in charge of all of the regional Vogues and she’s got her hand in all of Conde Nast’s publications, and most importantly, she gets a say in the biggest editorial hires. Edward Enniful was also given a big new position at the same time – he’s not only editor-in-chief of British Vogue, but he’s now in charge of Vogue’s European operations. Well, now the Daily Mail claims that there’s trouble in the Vogue Paris offices because Wintour is imposing her woke American values on a beloved French magazine. Sure.
Vogue Paris is in danger of ‘losing its soul’ as Anna Wintour pushes ‘American woke values’ onto the publication to try and help its tumbling circulation numbers, insiders have claimed.
Dame Anna Wintour, 71, who is now based in New York, has been accused of ‘crushing the elitist Parisian spirit’ by streamlining global editions of the fashion bible, according to French newspaper Le Figaro. The French edition of Vogue is also in danger of having the ‘Paris’ title dropped from its cover for next month’s edition for the first time in 70 years.
In an editorial written this week, Le Figuro said Vogue has ‘wiped Paris off the map’ and accused Dame Wintour of curbing the fierce independence of the French edition of Vogue as part of a move to put magazine’s European titles under streamlined control. It added that Condé Nast is also adapting to the world of online influencers and age social media activism with the prominence of group like Black Lives Matter and campaigns like #MeToo.
Last month, Conde Nast named Eugénie Trochu as the new boss of their Paris edition taking over from Emmanuelle Alt, who had been at the helm for a decade. Eugénie reports to Dame Anna and British Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful, who is also European editorial director.
Le Figaro and other Paris media has also reported how cultural institutions are ‘resisting American wokeness’.
In September, Vogue Paris held an exhibition to mark the centenary of the magazine, with Wintour reportedly outraged by the lack of non-white women on the covers on display. Despite reported tensions with central operations, Enninful has supported the Paris edition, last month saying: ‘The French edition of Vogue is a source of inspiration around the world’.
I hate to defend Nuclear Wintour but what in the world is this French melodrama? It sounds like Wintour came to Jesus and finally understands that ALL Vogue editions need to be more representative and inclusive, and they need to do more to feature models of color, designers of color, etc. Paris is the capital of fashion, right? Do Parisian fashionistas just want to stay in their all-white bubble, where there are few women of color walking runways at Paris Fashion Week and no women of color on the cover of Vogue Paris? I get that Vogue Paris’s editors and fashion writers want to retain their own (particularly French) sensibilities and vision, but… what Wintour and Enniful are suggesting is just good business and good sense. Why the hissy fit in Le Figaro?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, covers courtesy of Vogue Paris.
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