Anna Wintour’s Successor Sparks Vogue Staff Backlash

For practically 4 a long time, Anna Wintour has been the face of Vogue, shaping not solely the journal but additionally the worldwide trend world.

Now, her choice to step apart as editor-in-chief is shaking up the empire she constructed, with staffers reportedly already clashing over her alternative of successor.

The legendary editor, Chloe Malle, the daughter of late movie director Louis Malle, and actress Candice Bergen, has been named the brand new head of editorial content material at Vogue, a transfer that, though anticipated, has sparked heated debate throughout the trend powerhouse.

At 75, Anna Wintour is stepping again from her long-standing position as Vogue’s editorial chief, a place she has dominated since 1988.

On Tuesday, she confirmed Chloe as her successor, sparking each pleasure and unease inside.

Chloe, who has been working Vogue.com, now turns into head of editorial content material for one of the influential publications in trend.

Wintour praised her alternative, saying Vogue should stay “each the standard-bearer and the boundary-pushing chief” and calling the 39-year-old the proper particular person to strike that stability.

She added that she appears ahead to persevering with as Chloe’s mentor, “but additionally as her pupil.”

Chloe, in the meantime, admitted she feels “thrilled – and awed – to be a part of this second” whereas acknowledging how fortunate she is to have Wintour close by as a information.

Nonetheless, not everybody inside Vogue is celebrating.

Whereas Anna Wintour’s choice did not come as a whole shock, the response behind the scenes is way from unanimous.

“There’s nothing mistaken with Chloe. She’s competent and can do a superb job,” one staffer admitted to the Daily Mail, earlier than including that discontent remains to be brewing.

The supply then described Chloe as a “nepo child” who, via no fault of her personal, had benefits others by no means might.

One other insider described the sensation amongst workers as discouraging.

“It provides everybody else the sense of, ‘Why trouble?’ Irrespective of how good you might be, you may by no means be a part of a well-known household. The job will all the time go to somebody with affect,” they mentioned.

One worker did not mince phrases, saying, “She was born on third base, so let’s not fake she hit a triple.”

Regardless of the criticism, Chloe does carry years of expertise.

A graduate of Brown College, she joined Vogue in 2011 and steadily climbed the ranks.

In 2023, she was named an editor and co-host of “The Run-By means of with Vogue” podcast. She has interviewed main figures and constructed a fame for being sharp, polished, and revered within the newsroom.

Some staff say her character and work ethic shouldn’t be ignored. One staffer described her as “good, very good, very businesslike, but additionally sort,” including that she is going to doubtless preserve Vogue’s status intact.

Nonetheless, Chloe wasn’t the one choice for the highest job. Different contenders included Sara Moonves, the editor of W Journal, Stella Bugbee of The New York Occasions, and Nicole Phelps, who oversees Vogue Enterprise and Vogue Runway.

“That is simply the factor,” one insider mentioned. “They’d all have been good, however possibly their mothers did not win a bunch of Emmy Awards.”

Not like many who draw back from the label, Anna Wintour’s successor is upfront about her privilege.

Talking to the New York Times this week, she referred to as herself a “proud nepo child” and admitted she has “one hundred pc benefited” from her upbringing.

She mentioned it will be “delusional” to assert in any other case, however insisted the label pushed her to work tougher.