Anna Wintour is rapidly tightening her hold over the entirety of the Condé Nast magazine empire, the New York Times' David Carr wrote on Monday.
Wintour, who has led Vogue magazine since 1988, was named artistic director of Condé Nast in March, giving her a broad mandate to reshape nearly all of the magazines in the company's stable as she saw fit. At the time, Wintour was viewed as restless and looking for a change, and Condé was eager to keep her. When the role was announced, CEO Charles Townsend told Women's Wear Daily, “It’s not just a title. It’s not just to entice her to stay. The equation is pretty clear. Yes, I do want her to spend her glory years at Condé Nast."
According to Carr, Wintour has taken that promise to heart:
Ms. Wintour has always been a big deal — fashion houses seek her favor, retailers her advice and politicians her attention — but her influence within Condé Nast is now on the march in ways that are not just reshaping the magazines but the editorial structure within the organization. Five high-ranking newsroom employees told me that the new order is both not up for discussion — no one at the company wants to risk offending Ms. Wintour — and all anyone is talking about. They worry that the Condé way is becoming the Wintour way, leaving some in the organization feeling endangered.
Evidence of the Wintour way has been rippling through the media world for months. An August Times piece on Eva Chen, the new editor of Lucky magazine, noted that she had been directly appointed by Wintour, rather than by someone else in senior Condé management.
Wintour's latest project? Glamour, which has seen some shakiness on its business side.
Read the full Times piece here.
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