Anna Wintour OBE (born November 3, 1949) is an English-born fashion editor of American descent and
the editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. She became interested in fashion as a
teenager. Her father, Charles, editor of the Evening Standard, often consulted with her on how to make the newspaper's
coverage relevant to the youth of mid-1960s London. After dropping out of school at 16, she began a career in fashion journalism.
Her career took her across the Atlantic, with stints at New York and House & Garden. She returned home
for a year to turn around British Vogue, and later assumed control of the franchise's magazine in New York. She revived
a stagnant publication, earning her wide acclaim in the industry.
Like one of her predecessors, Diana Vreeland, she has become
a fashion icon. Her pageboy bob haircut and frequently-worn sunglasses have become a common sight in the front row of many
fashion shows. Away from the cameras, she has become as much an institution in the fashion world as her magazine. Widely praised
for her eye for fashion trends and support for younger designers, her aloof and demanding persona has earned her the nickname
"Nuclear Wintour" and alienated some associates. She has also drawn both praise and criticism for her willingness
to use the magazine and its cachet to shape the industry as a whole. Animal rights activists have also singled her out for
her continued promotion of fur, and other critics have charged her with using the magazine to promote elitist views of femininity
and beauty, focusing on rich and thin women.
A former personal assistant, Lauren Weisberger, wrote the 2003 bestselling roman à clef The
Devil Wears Prada, later made into a successful film starring Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a fashion editor widely
believed to be based on Wintour. In 2009 she was herself the focus of a film, R.J. Cutler's documentary The September
Issue, a documentary about the making of the magazine's landmark issue in September 2007. The film chronicles her work
on the five-pound 840-page issue, the largest issue Vogue ever sent to press.
She has said she admired her father Charles, known as "Chilly Charlie"for
being "inscrutable". Many former coworkers told Jerry Oppenheimer of how she kept her distance from most of them.
But she is also known for volatile outbursts of displeasure, and the "Nuclear Wintour" sobriquet is a result of
both. Despite its wide use, she dislikes it enough to have demanded that The New York Times not use it.
"I think she has been very
rude to a lot of people in the past, on her way up — very terse," said the same friend the Observer quoted on the
positive effect of her relationship with Bryan. "She doesn't do small talk. She is never going to be friends with her
assistant." A former assistant said, "You definitely did not ride the elevator with her."[Unwritten
rules imposed by Wintour at the Vogue offices forbid junior staffers from initiating conversation with her; an editor who
greeted her on the elevator was reprimanded by one of Wintour's assistants. A visiting reporter saw a junior staffer appear
visibly panicked when she realized she would have to ride the elevator with Wintour. Once another low-ranking employee saw
her trip in the hallway and walked past without offering assistance, and was later told she "did absolutely the right
thing."
Even
those who like her admit to some trepidation in her presence. "Anna happens to be a friend of mine," says Barbara
Amiel, "a fact which is of absolutely no help in coping with the cold panic that grips me whenever we meet."
