Who is Anna Wintour, the most famous fashion editor in the world

Anna Wintour She is a journalist, fashion icon, editor-in-chief of Vogue and one of the most influential people in the world of fashion. The British woman made history in the fashion world by transforming Vogue magazine into the most respected and influential publication in the fashion world.

Furthermore, the iconic publisher also had its image immortalized on the big screen, with the film The Devil Wears Prada, with the character Miranda Pristly, a caricature of her person, played by none other than Meryl Streep. Despite being one of the most influential people in the world, Anna Wintour is a very reserved woman and maintains an “ice woman” image, always with the same haircut and posture.

Anyway, today we will learn a little more about your history and career, and how Anna Wintour has become such a striking and imposing personality.

Childhood and youth of Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour was born on November 3, 1949, in London. She is the daughter of a British father and an American mother. In fact, her father, Charles Wintour, who is also a journalist, was the one who inspired Anna to follow this professional path.

Then, When Anna was a teenager she started working with her father, who at the time was editor of the English newspaper, Evening Starndard. In fact, it was with the help of his daughter that the editor managed to make his newspaper the most famous vehicle among young Londoners in the 1960s.

Anna left school at 16, the same time she had her first contact with the world of fashion. That’s because young Anna started working at the Biba boutique, one of the most famous at the time. Then, two years later, at the age of 18, Anna began her career as a fashion journalist.

Early career of Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour began working as a fashion journalist first as an assistant editor at Harper’s Bazaar magazine in New York. After that, she worked as a fashion editor at Viva magazine, a publication aimed at women belonging to the Penthouse group.

In fact, she stayed in that position for two years, and had a personal assistant for the first time. So, it was at this time that he became famous as a very demanding and temperamental professional, portrayed in the film The Devil Wears Prada.

Not long after that, Anna underwent an upgrade in her career when she was called to be the editor of the prestigious New York magazine. Therefore, with more freedom and power in her hands, Anna can better demonstrate her creativity in the production and design of fashion materials, which soon made her stand out in this market.

In this way, Anna became the star of the magazine and also realized that covers with celebrities and influential people increased the magazine’s sales. Anna gained a place of power within the company, being protected by the general director and having perks that no one else had.

Despite her important position, Anna wanted more and made this clear when she was interviewed by Grace Mirabella, who at the time was editor-in-chief of Vogue, for a position at the magazine. Anna revealed that she didn’t want an important position in the magazine, but rather the same place as her.

Editor-in-Chief of Vogue

After the interview, Anna began working at Vogue in 1983, in a creative editor position, which was created for her. The directors of Condé Nast invested everything in Wintour’s work and for two years she worked in her own way at the magazine, without reporting to Mirabella, until she was promoted to editor of British Vogue.

When she became editor of the British edition, Anna completely transformed the magazine. In this way, she revamped everything, firing most of her employees and hiring new names in fashion journalism. Furthermore, she changed the editorial focus of the magazine. With her cold stance and authoritarian style, Anna received the nickname that followed her for years: Nuclear Wintour.

She was on the right path, and in 1988 Anna Wintour finally achieved what she wanted since childhood: to be the editor-in-chief of the biggest fashion magazine, Vogue. She took the position after the departure of her not very close friend Grace Mirabella.

Anna took control of the magazine at a time when Elle magazine, Vogue’s main competitor, was on the rise. Therefore, Anna was the Condé Nast directors’ bet to take Vogue to the top again from a safe distance.

And Anna Wintour did not disappoint, as under her command the magazine underwent a complete overhaul. She changed the focus of the magazine, modernized the editorial material, rejuvenated the covers, bringing a more sophisticated style. Furthermore, she implemented the total control method, where everything, from text to photography, needed to be approved by her. And so, she revolutionized the fashion market and the way of creating a fashion magazine.

At the moment, At 72 years old, Anna Wintour continues to work tirelessly as editor-in-chief of American Vogueand has no intention of leaving the magazine anytime soon.

Met Gala

In addition to transforming the way fashion magazines are created, Anna Wintour also revolutionized the world of events. Anna is responsible for the guest list and organization of one of the most prestigious and relevant events in the world, the Met Gala.

The Costume Institute Gala or Costume Institute Benefit, also known as the Met Ball, is an annual fundraising ball for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In fact, this is the event that marks the opening of the annual Costume Instite fashion exhibition.

The event brings together only the most important and influential people in the world, including athletes, singers, actors, socialites and the most influential personalities from the main areas of culture.

However, the event only gained this prominence and relevance after Anna Wintour took control of the Met in 1999. Therefore, the journalist transformed a simple fundraising event into one of the most popular and relevant cultural events, with global repercussions.

Every year, the world stops to see who went to the event and what they were wearing. The event is practically a fashion show, each year has a theme and guests need to dress according to the established theme. Remembering that only people invited directly by the iconic editor-in-chief of Vogue attend the event.

Controversies involving Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour is a very eccentric and peculiar person. She has a habit of sending emails at 5 am and expects her employees to be available at all times, day or not, just like the character inspired by her. Furthermore, she is not a woman of many words, after all, she doesn’t like to waste her English for nothing. She is a fan of red meat and hates vegetables.

For these and other reasons, Anna Wintour has earned her place in the world of fashion, which makes her loved and adored by some and hated by others. This is due to his authoritarian, demanding, cold attitude. In fact, according to the Washington Post, Anna “She is a shrewd business person, although not always as sensitive or empathetic as society expects a woman to be.”

Sensitivity is not her thing, no smiling. That’s right, Anna Wintour was almost never seen smiling in public, just as she was never seen crying. After all, she wouldn’t easily tarnish her “ice woman” image. She is super methodical, has the same haircut as when she was 20 and wears similar clothes, almost like a uniform.

One of the biggest controversies involving the editor was when she asked the magazine’s photography department to “retouch the fat” around a baby’s neck. Can you believe? The publisher seeks perfection at all costs, as we can see.

Biography book

Recently, a “semi-authorized” biography of Anna Wintour called Anna was released. The book is 500 pages long and tells the story of the iconic editor-in-chief based on the accounts of 250 people who had contact with Anna. Despite not having authorized the biography, and not having given any interviews to the book’s author, Anna contributed to the work by indicating some sources to be heard.

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Sources: See Incredible Metropolises