Perhaps no one knows the ins and outs of Fashion Week better than Anna Wintour, longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and artistic director at Cond Nast. Donning her trademark black Chanel sunglasses and perfectly styled bob, Wintour has been a fashion-show fixture for decades.
Anna Wintour is the editor-in-chief of Vogue and artistic director of Cond Nast, Vogues publishing company.
Shes widely known as "the most influential figure in fashion."
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Her late father, Charles Wintour, was the editor of the London Evening Standard for nearly 20 years. Hes said to be one of the greatest and most influential journalists "in the second half of the 20th century."
In an interview with Vogue, Wintour said her father taught her perseverance.
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She has two brothers and a sister. She had a third brother who died as a child in a car accident. Wintour said she learned "great reporting" from her brother Patrick, the diplomatic editor of The Guardian.
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In "The September Issue" a documentary about Wintours life and career she said that growing up in London in the 1960s framed her view on fashion and made her fall in love with it at a young age.
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When Anna was 15 years old, Charles set his daughter up with a job at London clothing store Biba. She then joined a training program at Harrods, gathered up some magazine experience at Oz, and then landed an editorial assistant position at Harpers & Queen.
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She left London for New York and got a job as a junior fashion editor at Harpers Bazaar. She bounced from Bazaar to Viva in the 70s, and then landed at Savvy in 1980.
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Wintour then leapt back to the UK in 1985 for the editor-in-chief position at British Vogue. She returned to the US in 1987 to run House & Garden magazine for a short time before taking over at Vogue.
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At the time, the storied fashion magazine had lost some market share to rival Elle, and its focus had shifted slightly to include lifestyle coverage.
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Her first cover for American Vogue made a huge statement in the industry: Israeli model Michaela Bercu wore a haute couture Christian Lacroix jacket with stonewashed Guess jeans, styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele.
"It was so unlike the studied and elegant close-ups that were typical of Vogues covers back then, with tons of makeup and major jewelry," Wintour wrote in Vogue in 2012. "This one broke all the rules."
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She added, "I had just looked at that picture and sensed the winds of change. And you cant ask for more from a cover image than that." It turned out to be a giant gust of wind.
Wintour went on to break the rules again with her May 1989 cover that featured Madonna. Not only was featuring the then-controversial singer a shock to people, but no celebrity had ever landed the cover. This shifted focus from models to celebrities going forward.
Under Wintour, Vogue reestablished itselfas the dominant American fashion magazine.
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The famed editor-in-chief surrounded herself and still does with people who have all become major players in the fashion industry. When she first took the job at Vogue, she brought with her Grace Coddington, whom she worked with at British Vogue.
Throughout the years, her editorial posse has also seen the likes of Andr Leon Talley, Annie Leibovitz, Tonne Goodman, and Phillip Picardi.
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Theyve accompanied her to runway shows all over the world.
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Shes also shared the front row with countless celebrities, like Lupita Nyongo and Naomi Watts.
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And shes hobnobbed with fashion greats like the late Oscar de la Renta ...
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... Karl Lagerfeld ...
... and actress-turned-fashion-icon Sarah Jessica Parker.
Wintour has now attended more than 3,000 fashion shows on behalf of Vogue. And as of 2014 she had an annual clothing budget rumored to be as much as $200,000.
She is known for being an intimidating and demanding boss, a demeanor that has earned her the nickname "Nuclear Wintour."
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Meryl Streeps somewhat terrifying character in "The Devil Wears Prada," Miranda Priestley, was rumored to be inspired by Wintour. The movie was based on a book by Lauren Weisberger, formerly an assistant to the Vogue editor-in-chief.
Although Weisberger says the character isnt entirely based on Wintour, and Streep says she actually channeled a series of men while prepping for the role, the editor-in-chief has been seen joking about it with Streep on camera.
As for her signature look, Wintour has reportedly sported a bob since she was 15 years old.
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The black Chanel sunglasses serve a purpose beyond fashion. She told "60 Minutes" in 2009: "I can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice At this point, they have become, really, armor."
Youll often see Wintour wearing the same beige Manolo Blahnik slingback shoes. Some have said that she owns the same pair in multiple variations to match her skin color when she tans.
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The designer himself has said he has been working with her since 1994 on her custom shoes. "Were always discussing materials and adjusting the heel heights and whether or not the straps should be wider or stay the same," he said to The Daily. "In the end, its always up to Anna."
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Anna also has a hand in the annual Met Gala, always on the first Monday in May. Its known as the most highly coveted red carpet in fashion and benefits the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute.
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Shes been chairing the event since the 90s and has raised so much money that the museum renamed a wing the Anna Wintour Costume Center in 2014.
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As seen in a "73 Questions" segment produced by Vogue, Wintours office in the old Cond Nast Building was tastefully decorated with a wide variety of pieces.
You can take a look inside Wintours new office at One World Trade Center which Vogue moved into in 2014 in a skit Vogue produced with her and Amy Schumer.
Wintour has two children with her first husband, David Shaffer, whom she divorced in 1999. Her daughter, Bee Shaffer, often accompanies Wintour on the red carpet.
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Bee has worked as a producer on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." She left the show in 2017 to work for Ambassador Theatre Group.
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Bee married Francesco Carrozzini son of the late Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani in the summer of 2018. They had two ceremonies: one in Long Island, New York, and another in Portofino, Italy.
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Wintours son, Charlie Shaffer, attended medical school at Columbia after graduating from Oxford University.
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He married Elizabeth Cordry at Wintours home in Mastic, on New Yorks Long Island, in 2014. Photographer Mario Testino, Oscar de la Renta who designed Elizabeths dress and designer Prabal Gurung were all in attendance. Wintour became a grandmother in 2017 when their daughter was born.
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Wintours offspring have shared funny stories of their mothers particularity on social media. "My mom threw out our tree before Christmas Day because it was too messy," Bee once wrote on Instagram.
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Wintour has now been with Texan investor Shelby Bryan for more than 15 years, though they are rarely seen together. Some have said that their relationship has mellowed her, telling the Guardian, "She smiles now and has been seen to laugh."
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Wintour lives in a four-story townhouse on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village. The home dates back to 1899 and reportedly has some 3,960 square feet of space.
Wintour has been a vocal neighbor during her time in the Village. In 2010, she tried to block the opening of a Jamaican eatery called Miss Lilys."I am completely concerned," she said during a meeting, according to the New York Daily News."This is a unique historic neighborhood. Im also concerned for the safety of the kids here."
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When shes not working or being a community advocate, you may be able to catch her cheering on Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Her favorite sport is tennis, and she can often be spotted smiling from the sidelines of the US Open and Wimbledon.
You can get a glimpse at her personality in the "73 Questions" interview. She tells viewers she usually has Starbucks with her breakfast ...
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... she wishes everyone would stop using the word "journey" when talking about fashion ...
... her favorite flower is tuberose ...
... and her "favorite comedian of all time" is James Corden. He got her to eat bacon-wrapped pizza on a game of Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts on the "The Late Late Show."
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She said well never, ever catch her wearing head-to-toe black.
And you also wont find her sipping on a cocktail but when it comes to water she wants it sparkling.
Even the most powerful woman in fashion is afraid of something: spiders.
And even in the face of all the glitz and glamour, she says the best part about her job is "the people."
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Wintours love of fur in fashion has drawn some attacks from PETA over the years. While she was in Paris in 2005, a PETA supporter threw a tofu pie in her face.
What was she planning on doing after the pie fiasco? "Wear more fur."
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Wintour has been known as an arbiter of style and one of the most recognizable faces in fashion for decades. She was even reportedly considered for an ambassadorship after President Obamas second election, though the position eventually went to top fundraiser Matthew Barzun.
Wintour was made a dame for her work in fashion and journalism during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in May 2017.
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Rumors of her departure from Vogue and even Cond Nast as a whole have ebbed and flowed for a long time. But as of August 2018, the company confirmed shes not going anywhere just yet.
Her future departure will likely shake much more than just the fashion industry. As The New York Times fashion director Vanessa Friedman put it: "Think [her departure] wont matter to anyone outside the lint-picking world of One World Trade Center ... and Avenue Montaigne? Just close your eyes for a moment, and think again."
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