These days, all eyes are on Chloe Malle – including her predecessor Anna Wintour’s, even behind her dark, hallmark shades.
Ushering in a new era of American Vogue, the newly minted head of editorial content has announced her first cover, for the March issue, and in a sit-down with the New York Times last week admitted she feels ‘pressure’ to carry on the legacy of the glossy fashion magazine.
But, according to one source close to Conde Nast, her appointment threatens to tarnish the glittering brand that Wintour spent nearly four decades painstakingly perfecting.
‘There’s just an extraordinary contrast between the old guard and the new guard,’ the source told the Daily Mail.
‘While she thought it was the right appointment, she is probably like “What have I done?”’ the source added, referring to Wintour, who stepped down from her post as editor in chief last June.
‘It’s kind of destroying the Vogue brand; the Vogue brand is all about being unattainable and icy and aspirational, and Anna was always aspirational.’
Wintour, 76, did tell the Times that she admires that Malle, 40, is not a traditional ‘fashion obsessive’ – though our source speculated that what seems like an embrace of the new generation may not be more than a mirage.
‘Anybody who tries to bring in new, young, fresh ideas, Anna pretends she wants it, but actually can’t handle it, and is bristling at the idea of new ideas,’ the source claimed.
Malle, left, is the successor of Wintour, right
‘What does Vogue stand for if these new woke ways of working, which is I think the right way of working – but how is Vogue going to be sustainable under Chloe? Because Vogue’s whole identity has been about Anna, and Anna is looking like an outdated dinosaur.’
Wintour served as the editor in chief of American Vogue for 37 years, stepping down last summer and appointing Malle in September. Malle joined the magazine in 2011, and has risen through the ranks of the glossy, becoming the editor of Vogue.com, co-hosting Vogue’s weekly fashion and culture podcast, and launching viral hits such as Dogue, a tongue-in-cheek digital edition featuring dogs.
When announcing her successor in the fall, Wintour said in a statement that Malle ‘understands fashion’s big picture, its role shaping not just what’s on the runway but the changing fabric of modern life.’
She said, in part: ‘Chloe has proven often that she can find the balance between American Vogue’s long, singular history and its future on the front lines of the new. I am so excited to continue working with her, as her mentor but also as her student, while she leads us and our audiences where we’ve never been before.’
But the pair’s interview with the Times, at least according to viewers online, was a clear indication of the stark difference between the two editors.
At one point in the interview Malle fantasized about what she would do with a larger budget at the magazine.
‘I would build a whole new podcast studio, I would pay everyone 30 percent more, I would make sure the social team had more people on it, because they’re working all the time, I would have our app staffed more fully,’ she said.
Her predecessor, however, interjected, clarifying that they ‘have a very healthy budget at Vogue, and how we use it and use our resources is constantly changing, depending on the moment.’
The pair were interviewed in a sit-down by the New York Times last week
Our source said, ‘The thought that somebody could even be honest about wanting to pay their staff more and invest in social media and be honest about being nervous, it’s like the antithesis of Anna.’
Indeed, when Malle admitted at one point that she does, in fact, get nervous – even as recently as half an hour before the sit-down – Wintour retorted that she ‘never’ gets nervous.
‘She is not happy, I don’t think, about that interview,’ our source speculated about Wintour. ‘But then, I don’t know, Anna will always win. She still signs off the covers, she still signs off the budgets, so really Chloe hasn’t got that much power.’
A second source insisted Malle controls her own covers and budget, but also acknowledged that all Vogue editions report to Anna.
Wintour still serves as Vogue’s global chief content officer for Condé Nast as global editorial director. A Vogue spokesperson told the Daily Mail that Malle has Wintour’s complete support.
Wintour added: ‘Chloe is doing a great job.’
And despite the perceived tone of the interview, our source insisted that Malle has not got ‘off to a bumpy start’ at her new post. Rather, they said, ‘she’s doing a really good job in the eyes of the young, the millennial and Gen Z part of Conde Nast.’
