Fashion empress or glamorous insect? (Anna Wintour). How to build a life in order to achieve your dreams Editor-in-Chief Vogue America
One of the most influential figures in the world of modern fashion and the permanent editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour turns 64 today. During her career, Anna has reached incredible heights, and around her name appeared great amount legends and rumors. The "Iron Lady of Vogue" turned the fashion world upside down and irrevocably subdued it. Today we decided to remember 10 interesting facts from her life.
1. When Anna was ten years old, when filling out a school questionnaire, she had a question about future profession, and her father, editor-in-chief of the English tabloid "Evening Standard" Charles Wintour, advised her: "Write what you want to become an editor of Vogue!". Coincidence or mysticism, no one knows, but the phrase from the school questionnaire has become a reality!
She wears the same shoes for several years and hates bags.
2. Wintour has her own recognizable style. Her haircut has not changed for 25 years (every day a professional stylist who comes to her house in the morning does her styling). She wears the same shoes for several years and hates bags, appearing in public only with a diary, phone and dark Chanel glasses.
3. Chief Editor leads correct image life - her whole day is scheduled strictly by the clock. She does not drink alcohol and loves avocados (if it is not on the restaurant menu, the staff has to get out to provide Anna with her favorite treat).
4. Despite the fact that the schedule of shows at fashion weeks is drawn up six months in advance, in 2001 the Paris week had to be reduced by 2 days due to the fact that Wintour did not want to stay in Paris for too long. As a result, the fashion shows started daily at 8.45 am (instead of the usual afternoon) and did not begin until Anna took a seat in the hall, and she could be a little late.
5. In his youth, Wintour had a scandalous affair (which lasted only a few weeks) with the legendary singer Bob Marley. Rumor has it that Anna even ran away from home, forgetting about her then boyfriend John Bradshaw.
Rumor has it that Anna even ran away from home, forgetting about her then boyfriend John Bradshaw.
6. Anna Wintour is the prototype of the main character of Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestley. Weisberger was a personal assistant to the editor for some time, so the image of Miranda, who, by the way, was played by Meryl Streep in the film adaptation, is literally written off from Anna. In real life, the Vogue editor, like Miranda Priestley, ends the conversation with an offhand "And that's it." By the way, the goddess of fashion did not comment on this film in any way, but at the premiere she appeared from head to toe in Prada.
7. Wintour has always been passionate about finding new talent, thanks to her lit up the stars of Oscar de la Renta, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Takun and Alexander Wong. Photographer Patrick Demarchelier and actress Kate Bosworth received a ticket to the world of show business, and she helped Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs accelerate their career growth.
8. The editor-in-chief of Vogue has always had many detractors, for example, animal rights activists have declared her their enemy for promoting natural fur. Once, when Anna was leaving the Chanel show, PETA activists threw a cake in her face. "Wear more fur!" came her exclamation from under the layer of cream.
9. At Vogue, there are strict rules for employees created by Wintour. Junior employees should not give a voice until they are addressed by seniors (it is forbidden even to say hello first). You can’t eat at work, all employees must dress in the style of the magazine itself, and God forbid someone gets fat! One day, Wintour stumbled and sprawled out in the hallway - an employee who remained painfully indifferent as he walked past her later received a couple of commendable remarks.
She was fired from Harper's Bazaar for overstepping her bounds.
10. She was fired from Harper's Bazaar because she went beyond all limits by shooting couture collections on models with dreadlocks. “It was too much for them,” Anna said later, and in another interview with one publication she said: “ I advise everyone to get fired... It's a great life experience.
Childhood
Anna Wintour was born into a very famous family. Her father, Charles Wintour, was the editor of the London newspaper The Evening Standard, and her mother, Eleanor Wintour, was the daughter of a Harvard professor and an active social activist. Since Eleanor's grandmother's name was Anna Biker, it was decided to name the daughter of the Wintour family after her great-grandmother, the daughter of a Pennsylvania merchant.
Anna received her primary education at the North London Collegiate School in London. There, she often made scandals about her unwillingness to wear a school uniform. Creative skills the girl woke up pretty quickly. At the age of 14, she made herself her signature bob hairstyle, which is still her trademark, and already at 15 she advised her father on how to design the newspaper so that it would become more attractive to young people.
At the age of 16, she was nevertheless expelled from school for violating the dress code and inadmissible appearance in class in miniskirts. Then Anna Wintour decided to go into the world of journalism. She took a preparatory course at Harrods and in 1970 went to the editorial office of the newly born Harper's & Queen magazine, which arose after the merger of Harper's Bazaar UK and Queen magazines. After working for several years in this magazine, Anna became deputy editor-in-chief. But, not finding common language with the editor-in-chief, she leaves the editorial office of Harper's & Queen and moves to New York with her boyfriend, journalist John Bradshaw.
Star Trek
In New York, Wintour gets a job at Harper's Bazaar as a junior fashion editor. But even here she does not work well with the editor Tony Mazzola, and after 9 months she is fired.
Bradshaw's connections quickly help Anna Wintour find a new job, and she heads the women's magazine Viva. Unfortunately, in 1978, funding for this magazine by Kathy Keaton (wife of Penthouse owner Bob Guccione) was stopped and the magazine was closed. At this time, Anna breaks up with John Bradshaw and is very hard going through this separation.
In 1980, Wintour became fashion editor at Savvy magazine, and a year later he moved to the editorial office. New York. By a lucky chance, she came under the wing of editor Eduard Kosner, and all her ideas, even the most daring ones, were embodied without complaints. This, of course, caused anger from other employees, but the most important thing was that all the ideas of the ambitious Anna Wintour worked flawlessly.
After meeting with the editorial director of Condé Nast, Alex Lieberman, Anna Wintour is appointed creative director at Vogue. Feeling power and freedom again, Wintour had some friction with other editorial staff, which, of course, could not be overlooked in Condé Nast. They decided to send Wintour to London to run British Vogue.
In 1986, Anna gave birth to a son, Charlie, and immediately after his birth, she headed British Vogue. She again took it upon herself to completely change everything, and received the nickname Nuclear Wintour. In parallel, Wintour was given the leadership of House & Garden magazine, and in two days she turned it into a gloss.
In 1988, Anna Wintour finally took over American Vogue and, over time, turned that magazine into the most influential fashion magazine in the world. In parallel, ELLE magazine developed, and Condé Nast was afraid of this, instructing Wintour to radically change something. Under her leadership, the magazine was once again focused on fashion. She posted on her first cover a photo of no one famous model in $50 jeans and a $10,000 Christian Lacroix T-shirt embroidered with gems.
In September 2004, an 832-page issue was presented. It became the biggest issue in the history of fashion magazines.
Anna Wintour often set impossible tasks for employees, she did not give them minimal information and time to fulfill her own requirements, and became famous for her arbitrary method of leadership. For example, the book The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger was based on the experience of working with Anna Wintour, the prototype of the book's heroine.
Anna Wintour - personal life
Anna Wintour is one of many famous people who carefully hide and protect their personal lives. In her youth, Wintour switched to older men. So, at the age of 15, she had a short-lived romance with 24-year-old writer Pir Paul Reed.
After breaking up with Peer, she began an affair with Daily Mail columnist and gossip columnist Nigel Dempster. Thanks to this novel, she became "their" in many secular circles in London. When she was kicked out of school and needed something to do, she dabbled in the controversial Oz magazine, meeting with its editor-in-chief Richard Neville.
At the moment, the 15-year marriage has been ruined under a mass of rumors about her affair with a married Texas millionaire.
Anna Wintour is currently hosting measured life chief editor of Vogue. Does not smoke, does not drink, does not stay at parties for more than twenty minutes and goes to bed at 10 pm.
Few of the lovers of glossy magazines know that the editorial staff of American Vogue are forced to strictly abide by strange rules. For example, you can't eat at work. Junior employees are not allowed to greet seniors first. And God forbid someone get fat! These rules were introduced by a woman who is called "Bitch with a capital letter", "nuclear Wintour" and "gorgeous glamorous insect." On "Women's Passions" - the story of the life of Anna Wintour.
Anna Wintour is the most influential person in the fashion world, whom no one has yet been able to overthrow from her pedestal. She will turn 58 in November.
Anna has headed American Vogue since 1988. It was about her that former Vogue assistant Lauren Weisberger wrote her bestseller The Devil Wears Prada. Those who are familiar with this work only from the film starring Meryl Streep should read the book.
Lauren Weisberger
The author of the sensational novel - exposing the evil nature of Wintour - Lauren Weisberger was born in 1977 in Pennsylvania. And, in general, the heroine of The Devil Wears Prada Andrea is Lauren herself. Judge for yourself: after graduating from university, Lauren went on a trip to Jordan, Thailand, India, Nepal and other countries.
Upon her return to the States, she was very lucky - she, a girl with no work experience, was hired as an assistant to the editor-in-chief of Vogue Anna Wintour. Everything is exactly as described in the book. Lauren worked for Vogue for only 10 months. having had time to feel in her own skin how "lucky" she was to work in a place like Vogue, and with a woman like Wintour.
After leaving Vogue, where Lauren actually had to work as an errand girl, she began writing reviews for Departures Magazine. Simultaneously with her work in the publication, Lauren began attending writing courses. In essays written during class, she talked about her work at Vogue.
It soon became clear that these stories fit perfectly into a single concept. big book. Thus was created the novel "The Devil Wears Prada", which immediately became a world bestseller. It was very quickly translated into dozens of languages and, finally, a film was made on it, in which only Meryl Streep agreed to play the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine (in Russian “Podium”).
Meryl Streep
In the novel, the image of Miranda Priestley (read "Anna Wintour") is devoid of any human traits: this is a cold, bitchy, ruthless robot who, by some miracle, made the entire beau monde with his big money revolve around him. What can I say: the world's fashion shows just don't start until she arrives. Who is this Anna Wintour - a man, a cyborg or an alien guest?
Anna was born on November 3, 1949 in London. Her father Charles was the editor of the British newspaper The Evening Standard, and already in her teens, Anna, who became interested in fashion early, advised her father on how to make the newspaper more interesting for British youth in the 60s.
At the age of 18, Anna decided that it was time to give up her education, and got a job as an assistant in the Fashion department of Harpers & Queen magazine in London. After 6 years of work, she moved to New York, where she worked as the Fashion Editor of the American Harper's Bazaar. This was followed by the post of editor-in-chief of New York magazine, until, finally, in 1983, Wintour became the creative director of American Vogue.
Wintour has her own unique style: she is always recognizable by her sophisticated expensive clothes, oversized Chanel sunglasses (in her book, Weisberger replaced Wintour's fetish with Hermes scarves) and bob hair.
It was even said that Wintour is the embodiment of Satan. She has red eyeballs and therefore she is forced to hide them behind dark glasses. However, skeptics claim that Anna wears glasses due to vision problems (a disease inherited from her father).
Anna Wintour with her daughter
Wintour lives in Manhattan and follows a strict daily routine, from which she has not retreated for years. Every morning, Anna gets up at 5:45, goes to play tennis, then professionals work on her hair and makeup, after which a personal driver delivers Anna to the Vogue editorial office.
Wintour is known for her high-class parties, but she herself never spends more than the first ten minutes at an event. Exactly at 22:15 Anna goes to bed. Such a strict regimen and composure in everything allow her to remain the number one woman in the world of Fashion to this day.
Wintour has two children from her first husband, David Shaffer, a famous pediatrician with whom Anna lived for more than 15 years. But once the appearance of impeccability and decency of the snow queen Moda was destroyed ... by herself. Anna had an affair with a married man, Texas telephone magnate Shelby Brian.
All the tabloids were talking about what happened - this affair ruined both marriages, and now Shelby and Wintour are together. Her close associates claimed that Wintour was extremely unhappy with the status of a "divorced woman" and was very afraid that the divorce would negatively affect the children.
And a man who once happened to spend a vacation with Wintour and her ex-husband Shaffer claimed that the couple could sit for 7 hours on the beach without exchanging a single word. And silence here was not at all a sign of spiritual kinship.
They were just sad and bored with each other. They say that after the convergence of Wintour with Shelby Bryan, others began to notice a smile (so rare before) on her face.
Cake thrown at Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour is Animal Defenders Enemy Number One as she not only encourages Vogue readers to buy furs, but also writes editorials calling for the wearing of furs, as well as initiating recipes that recommend cooking french fries with horse fat.
Wintour even refused to publish paid advertising to animal rights activists. The Greens nicknamed Wintour Cruella (from the English “cruel” - cruel. That was the name of the evil heroine from “101 Dalmatians”, which, by the way, looks strikingly similar to Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”). The most vocal animal rights activists have repeatedly attacked Wintour. So, in 2005, during a fashion show in Paris, Wintour launched a cream cake.
Yes, Anna Wintour is a tough, demanding, meticulous and principled person. And very influential. It was she who contributed to the popularity of John Galliano in the United States, as well as the rapid growth of the careers of Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs.
BUT in 1999 she refused to put Jennifer Lopez on the cover, as she, according to Wintour, is too vulgar for Vogue. Many do not like Anna for these qualities of character, and some even hate her. This year, the trial of Peter Bronstein, who worked on a portal dedicated to the fashion industry, took place.
The journalist was tried for sexual harassment of a colleague (disguised as a firefighter, Bronstein entered the house of a colleague to rape her). During the investigation, it was found personal diary the accused, which contained records of the planned murder of Anna Wintour.
In his diary, Bronstein called Wintour a "selfish freak" who never answered his calls. The following was also written there: “Do you want to know why I want to kill Anna Wintour? Yes, just because I want to!”. Apparently, the feelings that the assistant Andrea (the heroine of The Devil Wears Prada) experienced for her boss reflect the real attitude towards Wintour of many Vogue employees, as well as people who encountered Anna through a professional line.
Anna Wintour is a business woman with a worldwide reputation, whose opinion the world of high fashion listens to, was born in London on 11/03/1949.
Childhood
Anna's father was a successful and highly respected journalist. Mother was active social activities and also held great respect. Anna's family has noble roots and is related to the representative of English classical literature Elizabeth Foster. Therefore, the girl was brought up in strict aristocratic traditions.
In young age
When she grew up, she was sent to one of the most prestigious private schools. Anna studied well, she was especially successful in humanitarian subjects. But already in high school, inspired by the example of her mother, she began to organize protests against too strict rules at school. Especially against the aristocratic dress code, which completely suppressed individuality.
Then she became interested in everything related to the fashion industry. At the age of 15, she gets a job in a fashion store, to the address of which, secretly from her parents, she writes out American letters for herself. glossy magazines. Even then there was a decision that she would connect her life with the fashion industry. But parents were categorically against this idea.
In order not to conflict with her father, Anna continues to study at school, attends a journalism school and is preparing to enter the university. But he tries to spend his free time at parties where you can meet wealthy men. Even then, she understood that it was almost impossible to get into the world of high fashion without a guide.
Career
The tactics of the young fashionista paid off. Soon she already begins to meet with the editor of the famous Oz magazine, who found Anna, who had already received a certificate by that time, a place in the fashion department. But this level does not satisfy her ambitions at all.
The rapid growth of her career began in 1970, when she moved to Harpers & Queen, at first as a simple employee of the advertising department. Thanks to her determination, communication skills and ability to convince, Anna began to quickly move forward in career ladder. Her ideas to change the magazine were increasingly supported by management.
Just a year later, she was already in charge of one of the departments, and two years later she became a real contender for the position of editor-in-chief of the publication. Even then, she contributed to the promotion of rising stars of the modeling business and had a unique flair for interesting images. But leadership position in the end, another journalist received, and Anna's offended pride did not allow her to stay there longer.
However, by that time, Anna already had international prestige. Upon learning that Anna said goodbye to her former employer, she profitable proposition Harper's Bazaar and the girl moves to America. But because of her freedom-loving nature and indefatigable ambitions, she begins to conflict with the leadership and, not even holding out for a year, says goodbye to the magazine.
Her next job was Viva magazine. At that time, the publication, which tells about the life of the stars, was unprofitable. And Anna never managed to save him from ruin. Two years later, the magazine was nevertheless closed, and Anna again remained out of work.
However, the support of influential friends helped her to lead her usual way of life. And in 1980, she returned to her favorite business again, now at Savvy, but she also does not stay there for long and soon moves to New York.
Currently, Anna is the creative director of one of the most prestigious fashion publications, Vogue. An influential patron, Alexander Lieberman, again helped her get settled there. Here, her desire for change is only welcome. But very soon history repeats itself. She becomes the main contender for the role of leader, but at the last moment she loses the fight to Grace Mirabella.
But she receives an offer to return to her native London and head the British branch of the magazine. Anna is still in this post. It was with her filing that conservative London became one of the world's fashion centers. Wintour became the prototype of the main character of the famous film "The Devil Wears Prada", which was brilliantly played by Meryl Streep.
Personal life
From a young age, Anna did not hesitate to use her sexuality and personal charm to achieve her own goals. It is impossible to remember all her patrons. However, among them there are such influential people that Anna carefully hides their names until now. However, there was only one official marriage union.
Her chosen one was David Shaffer, a charming and very wealthy child psychiatrist, with whom he was married in 1984.
With David Shaffer
The union lasted for a long 15 years, during which Anna managed to give birth to two children and have many other small affairs. As a result, her husband was tired of her constant betrayal, and he filed for divorce.
Anna Wintour is the editor-in-chief of Vogue, the world's most famous fashion magazine. This woman is respected and feared, idolized and hated, but one thing remains unchanged: Wintour is a real style icon, a perfect example of a persistent, stern and uncompromising person. Even in her youth, Anna Wintour was known as a rebel, irreconcilable with other people's rules. A tough character, impeccable style and huge ambitions led her to journalism, to which she devoted her whole life. Now Anna Wintour has been the editor of Vogue for several decades, but she has not lost her former grip and is still a professional to whom the entire fashion industry bows.
- Real name: Anna Wintour
- Date of birth: 11/3/1949
- Zodiac sign: Scorpio
- Height: 170 centimeters
- Weight: 64 kilograms
- Waist and hips: 56 and 82 centimeters
- Shoe size: 38 (EUR)
- Eye and hair color: Green, blond.
Biography
Future Vogue editor Anna Wintour was born in London. Her mother was a zealous political activist and public figure, and her father, in whose footsteps Anna followed, was the editor of The Evening Standard. It was from him that his daughter inherited journalistic acumen, the ability to command people and an unflappable character. According to rumors, the employees of The Evening Standard even nicknamed Charles Wintour "Cold Charles". It's funny, because many years later, his daughter also began to receive nicknames like the Snow Queen, Nuclear Winter, and even the Devil in a skirt!
Even in her youth, Wintour showed talent as an editor and creative thinking, helping her father with the design of the newspaper. Obviously, Anna liked this business, because she decided to connect her future life with journalism. At first, the girl was trained at a London school. There, she did not want to put up with the rules, which caused violent discontent of the teachers. The main stumbling block was the school uniform - the girl flatly refused to comply with the dress code, apparently finding it completely tasteless.
In her youth, Anna already had the makings of style and good taste. So, at the age of 14, she made a bob haircut of medium length, which is unchanged to this day, being a kind of "chip" of our heroine. However, at school, her passion for fashion was not appreciated. One day, the girl showed up for lessons in a miniskirt (which was a rather eccentric trick for those years) and the teachers simply refused to tolerate such behavior, excluding Anna Wintour from school. However, this did not upset her at all, on the contrary, the girl finally got rid of the hindrance and could now follow her own path. And this path lay in fashion journalism.
Her parents did not want her to be left completely without an education, and advised her to take courses at Harrods. The girl obeyed the will of her parents and even tried to go to classes, but she did not last long. However, she wanted to practice, she wanted to do the real thing rather than waste time memorizing lectures. She left her studies, saying: "You either know fashion or you don't." And Wintour definitely knew fashion.
The beginning of an editorial career
Thanks to his impeccable taste and knowledge of fashion trends, this talented woman got a job at the British Harper's & Queen without any problems. She got the position of assistant editor, and soon she was able to get a promotion to deputy editor in chief. Of course, in the fashion section. However, the girl could not get along with her boss (Anna wanted to take her place and did not hide it) and was forced to leave her current job.
She headed to American Harper's & Queen. But even there it did not take root because of its peculiar character. After a series of failures, she got a job at New York magazine, where her ambition and creative ideas were finally appreciated. Soon such an extraordinary personality was noticed by the director of the Condé Nast publishing house and Anna got a job as a creative director at Vogue. Her ideas were unusual, provocative and bright, but Anna still could not manage to live in peace with other employees, and especially with the then head of the magazine, Grace Mirabella.
And then the woman set herself a goal - to take the place of Mirabella, but the authorities were still indecisive. They managed to transfer Anna to British Vogue, give her a magazine about home and garden interiors to take care of, and return America again. After that, Wintour nevertheless became the editor-in-chief of Vogue and changed this magazine forever. Breathing in "Vogue" new life, Anna made it the most prestigious and influential fashion magazine. Thanks to her, the work of many young photographers and designers saw the light, whose talent only she could discern and develop.
Personal life and children of Anna Wintour
With her husband, David Schaeffer, our heroine was familiar long before their marriage. When the lovers decided to get married, Wintour was already 34 years old. The relationship between husband and wife lasted almost fifteen years, and in marriage, Anna gave birth to two children - Charles and Catherine. And if her son is far from the world of fashion, then her daughter is happy to go to fashion shows with her mother. For all its toughness, "Devil in a Skirt" cares a lot about children. So, in 1999, when the marriage with her husband broke up, however, our heroine was not primarily worried about herself, not about the reaction of the public and hundreds of unpleasant articles - she was worried about the children, fearing that they would painfully endure the divorce.
