Anna Wintour on Her Distinctive Style and Challenging the Myth of Unquestioned Authority

Anna Wintour commenced our interview wearing her characteristic dark glasses. The meeting with the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, a position she has held since 1988, took place at VOGUE: Inventing the Runway, an exhibition Wintour conceived to explore the history of the catwalk. Our discussion occurred in a spacious underground area, encircled by three expansive screens. Despite the dim lighting, her sunglasses remained on throughout our conversation. I cautiously inquired about their purpose, wondering if they served as a protective barrier or for a more practical reason like poor eyesight. Wintour responded somewhat cryptically, stating, “They help me see and they help me not see,” adding, “They help me be seen and not be seen. They are a prop, I would say”. The Lightroom venue in London utilizes digital projection and audio technology within its high-walled space to craft an immersive experience for attendees. This location previously showcased a highly successful David Hockney exhibition and Tom Hanks’s presentation on the history of space travel. Currently, the exhibition space offers visitors a prime vantage point at some of history’s most spectacular fashion shows, drawing from Vogue’s extensive archive and network of contributors. Wintour acknowledged that “for someone who goes to so many shows, you get a little, not jaded, but you get used to the experience”. She noted that since most exhibition visitors have not had the opportunity to attend such events, the organizers aimed to create a sense of actual presence. As a dominant figure in the fashion world, Wintour has occupied a genuine front-row seat for decades, frequently on the delicate gold chairs common at high-end catwalk viewings where her attendance is always assured. In the exhibition’s introductory text, Wintour states that she has “probably spent a year of my life waiting for fashion shows, which are famously tardy, to begin”. She recounted that American designer Marc Jacobs once presented a runway show that was an hour and a half late, but “we all yelled at him so much after that, the next season, he not only started the show on time, he actually started five minutes early”. In contrast, Italian designer Gianni Versace was “always on time”, remarking, “It didn’t matter who wasn’t there, it could have been the Pope, he didn’t care”. This punctuality would have suited Wintour, who describes herself as “horribly punctual, usually early”. She arrived ahead of schedule for our interview. Fortunately, I had been forewarned of this characteristic, and we were prepared. The Vogue exhibition guides audiences through a series of vivid segments, narrated by Cate Blanchett, chronicling the evolution of fashion and the runway. Wintour shared, “It’s quite nostalgic to sit in the space and look at the incredible changes that have happened in fashion.” We were presented with a collection of the magazine’s early front covers, black and white footage of the inaugural catwalk shows, and images of early twentieth-century couture salons. Fashion in that era was “very elitist – you had to be invited and it was a very tight little world,” Wintour observed. This stands in stark contrast to musician and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams’s debut show for Louis Vuitton in 2023. This pop-culture spectacle, held on the Pont Neuf in Paris, saw attendees like Beyonce, Rihanna, and Wintour herself, and garnered one billion online views. The increasing accessibility of fashion means, as Wintour articulated, “now everyone can come to the party, which is as it should be”. The exhibition also transports viewers to 2017, when Karl Lagerfeld conceived a space-station themed runway set for Chanel, complete with a rocket launch as models posed alongside it. Wintour described it as “extraordinary… and you couldn’t wait to see what he was going to come up with next”. Lagerfeld had a history of such ambitious projects. A decade prior, for Fendi, he pioneered by using the Great Wall of China as a catwalk, with models parading along its ancient stones. Designers of his caliber evidently pursue their visions without reservation. To those within the industry, Wintour has been among fashion’s most influential figures for nearly 40 years, known for fostering careers and championing fashion’s integration with entertainment’s A-list. She is the driving force behind the annual Met Gala in New York, an event held on the first Monday of every May where fashion and celebrity converge in a widely publicized display of extravagant attire and famous personalities. Those outside the industry are more inclined to ponder the extent to which Wintour resembles Miranda Priestly, the fictional autocratic magazine editor from the film The Devil Wears Prada, whose portrayal by Meryl Streep is deeply ingrained in fans’ memories. Priestly dismissively inquires about her assistant, “Is there some reason that my coffee isn’t here? Has she died or something?” and later tells her, “Details of your incompetence do not interest me,”. During her recent visit to London, Wintour embraced the comparison by attending the gala performance of the film’s new musical adaptation. There, she informed the BBC that it was “for the audience and for the people I work with to decide if there are any similarities between me and Miranda Priestly”. When we conversed, I sought to understand if she perceives the public persona of Anna Wintour—characterized by her sharp bob, meticulous attire, and glasses—as a role she feels compelled to enact. “I don’t really think about it,” she responded. “What I’m really interested in is the creative aspect of my job.” Wintour mentioned bringing only one or two suitcases to London and declined to comment on whether she dresses more casually at her home