Vogue’s Anna Wintour turns 70
The formidable editor of Vogue has just turned 70 but, like her famous bob, she remains ageless
SHE’S an enduring fashion icon, with a tongue that drips sarcasm and one of the most recognisable haircuts in the world. She’s also one of the most formidable people ever to enter the world of publishing and is so influential she can make or break people with a single nod or shake of the head. Her approval means a fashion house will be rolling in big bucks if she features their latest range on the pages of her glossy style bible. Her disapproval? It’s dead in the water. And Anna Wintour is showing no signs of slowing down or chilling out. The legendary Vogue editorin-chief has just turned 70, yet she continues to rule her empire with an iron fist. She’s been described as the key architect behind fashion trends and as having a major impact on the clothes we see on TV screens. Anna is often seen front row at major shows in the fashion capitals of the world, usually in a Chanel jacket and oversized Chanel sunglasses which, she once let slip, “help me when I’m tired and sleepy – I think it’s become a crutch”. She earns $2 million (R30 million) a year plus a $200 000 (R3m) annual allowance to keep her wardrobe up to standard and is at the helm of the annual Oscars of fashion: the star-studded Met Gala in New York. In honour of her entering the era of septuagenarians, we look at the life and times of an ice queen often called “the devil in Prada”.
DADDY’S GIRL
Anna takes after her dad, Charles Wintour, whose frosty nature earned him the nickname “Chilly Charlie” when he was editor of the London Evening Standard newspaper from 1959 to 1976.
“I think I learnt from him that people respond well to someone who knows what they want,” said Anna, who was one of five children.
As a schoolgirl she broke many rules: her uniform was rebelliously short and at 15 she started to date older men.
An academic underachiever, she dropped out of school when her dad got her a job with London fashion boutique Biba. It lasted only a year and she then enrolled at a fashion school – but that didn’t last long either.
“You either know fashion or you don’t,” Anna said.
FIRST STEPS
In 1970 she got a job as a fashion journalist at Harper’s & Queen magazine but quickly made it clear her one true ambition was becoming editor of Vogue.
“Fashion was Anna’s life and she couldn’t stand working for someone who wasn’t as style-savvy as she was,” said Min Hogg, who was Harper’s & Queen’s fashion editor at the time.
In 1976 Anna moved to America to join Harper’s Bazaar magazine as a junior fashion editor.
Nine months later she was fired – apparently after being told she’d never understand the US market.
Anna was unperturbed though. “Everyone should be sacked at least once in their career because perfection doesn’t exist,” she said.
FASHION BOSS
In 1985 she was appointed creative director of American Vogue – after revealing she had her sights set on editor Grace Mirabella’s job.
In her book In and Out of Vogue, Grace (now 89) tells how Anna undermined her authority. “She’d go behind my back and redo layouts, bring in new art, circumvent me and my fashion editors,” she wrote. “If she couldn’t bypass my editors, she’d harass and criticise them.”
A year later Anna was back in England – as editor of the British edition of Vogue. She dismissed staff left, right and centre for “poor work” and was nicknamed “Nuclear Wintour”.
In 1988, when staff at American Vogue heard Nuclear Wintour was to be their editor, they apparently broke down in tears.
Anna’s brief was to give the magazine a new lease of life for its 1,2 million readers. In her first issue, she dropped the over-styled glossy pics and introduced more affordable clothing on the fashion pages. Her first cover model, 19-year-old Michaela Bercu, wore just a hint of makeup and washed Guess jeans.
“It was a huge risk,” Anna later said. But it worked – and today the magazine boasts 13,2 million readers worldwide.
THE DEVIL IN PRADA
The 2003 bestseller The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger is believed to be inspired by Anna. Lauren is her former assistant and the book revolves around the hellish time a tyrant of an editor gives her assistant. In the film version, editor Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep, RIGHT) is unfeeling, cold-hearted and a mom of two – like Anna.
The bobbed, bespectacled character of Edna Mode in the Disney animated movie The Incredibles is said to be based on Anna too.
PRIVATE LIFE
In 1984 Anna married South African-born child psychiatrist David Shaffer (now 83), the father of her two kids, Charles (34) and Bee (32).
They parted ways 15 years later, apparently because Anna was having an affair with married investor Shelby Bryan, whom she married in 2004.
They’re still together. Shelby (now 73) is said to have a knack for making Anna smile.
THE QUEEN OF MEAN
In 2008 Anna invited Hillary Clinton to appear on the cover of Vogue but the politician declined, saying she didn’t want to look “too feminine”. Anna shot back in an open letter. “This is America, not Saudi Arabia,” she said. “I do think Americans have moved on from the power-suit mentality.”
She told Oprah Winfrey in 1998 to lose 9kg before appearing on Vogue’s cover and made supermodel Cindy Crawford redo a cover shoot three times – and still she wasn’t happy. When Cindy’s people complained, Anna told them, “Cindy Crawford’s just another model. I’m Anna Wintour.”
A DAY IN HER LIFE
Anna, who lives in a luxury four-storey home in Greenwich Village, New York, is up by 4am. At 6.30am she catches up on the news and at seven it’s time for her daily game of tennis.
Then she’s chauffeured to Vogue’s office in downtown Manhattan. Breakfast is a Starbucks coffee.
She has three assistants but sometimes answers the office phone herself as a treat to readers who call.
Lunch is steak or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and at 5pm she leaves the office armed with what she calls her “magic box of tricks”, containing articles, story ideas and CVs.
“It’s super-important to me to get everything done at night so I can keep on top of the work and nobody is waiting for my feedback,” Anna says.
She’s seldom seen with a handbag and not a drop of alcohol passes her lips.
Although often seen at A-list parties, she stays for only 20 minutes and by 10.15pm she’s in bed, shades at the ready to hide any traces of tiredness in the morning.