Anna Wintour

2022 - 5 - 3

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Christian Science Monitor"

More than fashion: Vogue's Anna Wintour influences culture at large (Christian Science Monitor)

Vogue editor Anna Wintour's cultural clout extends from Hollywood to Washington and beyond, says biographer Amy Odell in “Anna: The Biography.”

... It was talked about in the 1980s, it was talked about in the ‘90s, the lack of Black models and Black fashion in magazines and in campaigns – that was talked about. I really went into the book with this question of why is she powerful and why has she been powerful for so long? Powerful people behind the scenes are asking her advice and relying on her and still thinking that she’s powerful and that her opinion matters. Anna has remained powerful in her position and her influence is still there. I think Vogue has worked to make sure that they’re getting that social media impact out of the [Met gala]. Another thing that’s remarkable about her having been in this position for so long, she’s seen the publishing industry transform. The conversations about fashion are going to be happening based on what’s happening online. And the other thing is that despite being in this public position running Vogue for so long, she has remained an enigma even to people who know her. But she has influence on Hollywood. She has influence in politics. Some people I interviewed even said they believe that her cultural innovation is on par with that of Steve Jobs. She’s also a person who has had this extraordinary longevity. She’s a person who has been in this unique position of power. In “Anna: The Biography,” fashion journalist Amy Odell explores the life and career of legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who has so far remained a mysterious figure even though she wields influence across American culture. I mean, if you think of business leaders, she’s been at the helm of Vogue for 34 years.

With 'Anna: The Biography,' Amy Odell Demystifies One of Fashion's ... (Fashionista)

Over the past three decades, Anna Wintour has been the subject of many a gossip column, and become a pop culture icon in her own right.

She has to think about TikTok. She has to think about Instagram. And what people said to me is that she really cares about traffic. Sources told me that there was only one time that she may have really been in danger, and that was in the '90s when she wasn't photographing enough advertisers' clothing, and it was becoming a concern to the business side. But that icy reputation has been so sticky, and it really started in the mid '80s when she became the editor-in-chief of British Vogue and she cut staff and brought in new staff, she cut columns and longstanding columnists. Williams told me that she was struggling with tennis at one point and she called Anna; she couldn't remember exactly what Anna had said to her, but it enabled her to win Wimbledon. Mark Holgate, who still works with Anna at Vogue, told me that Hugh Jackman wanted to get Anna's advice on 'The Greatest Showman'; he summoned Anna and Mark and some other people on the Vogue staff to the Soho House and made a pitch for the movie and got their advice on it. When she was talking to the Obama administration about potential ambassadorship — which was never offered to her, as I explain — she didn't talk to anybody about that. I was fascinated to learn that she was involved at that level of detail. I say in the book that she likes chicken pot pie because it has everything in one dish — it's got the vegetable, the starch, the protein. I want readers to be able to read this book and make up their mind about what they think about Anna Wintour. Obviously there's a lot, despite the fact that she's a cipher, as you say — and I think that's a great word for her. That isn't really true: Not all of the celebrities get an Anna Wintour check mark on their outfit before they step onto that red carpet — about 80% of them do, but she also has people like Virginia Smith on her team who can help advise celebrities or help the staff figure out what they're going to wear. You see that she grapples with these failures at Vogue and at Condé Nast. You see that she has a warm relationship with her family and her friends. You see that she can be a gracious hostess in her home, be it in her Manhattan townhouse or in her estate out in Long island. "Piecing it together was tedious and a lot of work, but the absolute best reporting that I could verify does appear in the book."

Is Anna Wintour Still Omnipotent? (The Wall Street Journal)

The Vogue editor-in-chief reigned supreme at Monday's Met Gala. A new biography charts the source and strength of Anna Wintour's rule, ultimately asking: ...

“Anna,” a biography by journalist Amy Odell which is out today from Gallery Books, seeks to explain her omnipotence. With typical understatement, she later told former Vanity Fair editor and sometime rival Tina Brown that at the show, she and the Queen discussed “how long we’ve both been in our jobs.” For the longest-reigning British monarch, now 96, this was a rare fashion-week outing, but for the longest-reigning editor-in-chief of American Vogue, now 72, it was business as usual.

New Anna Wintour biography reveals inner workings of Met Gala ... (USA TODAY)

Fashion journalist Amy Odell details Anna Wintour in a new biography sourced from over 250 interviews with Wintour's close friends.

In Talley's memoir “The Chiffon Trenches,” he wrote about their relationship's demise. “It was the flashiest and most shocking party the Met had ever thrown,” Odell writes. Talley's time at Vogue as creative director was integral for Black visibility in fashion, as he brought star models like Naomi Campbell and Veronica Webb into the publication's focus. And she was so sensitive to that." Wintour spoke Talley's name at Vogue for a job while she was still the magazine’s creative director. Wintour, 72, has expanded her career as editor in chief of Vogue magazine over several decades to become a gatekeeper and curator of the fashion industry. He advocated for diversity and encouraged top designers to include more Black models in their shows as he helped shape Vogue at large. Wintour was encouraged to be wrapped up in her father’s world of publishing. “Love had to explain that, actually Kardashian physically couldn’t sit.” Wintour once sought advice from her dad while filling out a form that asked what her “career objectives” were. Odell includes Wintour’s childhood moments, watching her father rule London’s Evening Standard newspaper, her intricate planning of the Met Gala and her personal, yet compartmentalized, relationships. Wintour, along with museum curators and close friend Tom Ford, orchestrates every detail including the dress code, food and seating arrangements.

How Similar Is Anna Wintour to Miranda Priestly? The Anna Book ... (E! Online)

In the new biography Anna, several of Anna Wintour's former assistants reveal what it was really like to work for the iconic Vogue editor-in-chief.

The new biography of Anna Wintour has finally arrived and, yes, it is totally the perfect way to nurse your Met Gala hangover. In total, the author spoke with over 250 sources, including some of Wintour's former personal assistants who offered insight on what it was really like to work for the iconic fashion figure, whose management style was so singular that it inspired one departed aide to pen the bestselling book (and eventual hit movie), The Devil Wears Prada. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!

How Anna Wintour Inspires Respect, Loyalty and—Yes—Fear (The Kit)

Juicy, fascinating intel on how Anna Wintour does it from writer Amy Odell's biography of fashion's reigning empress, Anna: The Biography.

And so I thought her power had diminished, but going into reporting and seeing how many people were loyal to her, how many people respect her, how many people seek her advice behind the scenes, I thought that was really surprising. He was so involved that they flew the chef to London so the chef could cook the food for him and show him what it was like on the plate. That said, what I learned in doing all my reporting is that she really seems to respond as a human, not as the icon that we know her to be. “I started working on this in 2018 and I thought at that moment in time that her power has weakened. People who want to learn about fashion don’t need to do it by looking at Vogue. And then in 2018, there were some rumours about her leaving Vogue. I believe they broke in The New York Post and I remember it trended on Twitter, and that really stood out to me because it was such a huge story. She’s very efficient, she gets a lot done in a day—a lot of people were like, ‘I can’t believe what she gets done in a day.’ I think a lot of people in positions like that might spend more time on self-promotion than editing the magazine, but she really looks at everything, she really is editing. But she certainly is the last of her kind, at this point, to be in the position that she is, to have the perks that she has, to have the power that she has as a magazine editor. And Anna—I found this to be surprising—has said that she wants to be remembered for her philanthropy, not for her magazine editing work. I think many people are not afraid of her, and I talked to them. The Met Gala is an example of that, of course, that’s to raise money for the Costume Institute at the Met, and the parallel I would draw from that is to her mother.” And the truth about how far her power and influence actually extends beyond fashion and into pop culture: Apparently, first-time director Bradley Cooper sent her the script for A Star is Born to get her thoughts on who should play the lead opposite him, which of course went to Lady Gaga. One story that someone told me is that when she’s walking around the Condé Nast office, people will throw themselves against the wall in fear.