Anna Wintour’s Reign At Vogue Is Coming To An End; She’s Set To Exit Condé Nast This Summer

NEW YORK — News broke in the fashion and publishing industry earlier today Monday (April 2), that Anna Wintour could be on her way out of Condé Nast (she serves as artistic director, overseeing all of the media company’s publications) and Vogue (she serves as editor-in-chief).

Sources have told Page Six that Wintour — who became editor in chief of Vogue in 1988 — “is to exit her all-powerful role at the publishing house this summer after the July wedding of her daughter, Bee Schaffer, to Francesco Carrozzini, the son of former Italian Vogue Editor Franca Sozzani.“

The move would also allow Wintour, 68 — who has for three decades been fashion’s ultimate power broker — to step aside on a high after closing Vogue’s all-important September issue.

But Condé Nast strongly denies Wintour is going. A Condé corporate spokesperson told Page Six on Monday, “We emphatically deny these rumors,” but declined to comment more specifically on Wintour’s plans.

Page Six also reports that Vogue UK’s editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, is the likely replacement as the editor of US Vogue. It’s unclear who — if anyone — might replace Wintour as the artistic director of Condé Nast, the title she ascended to in 2013, giving her oversight over all Condé magazine titles.

“Longtime Condé chairman Si Newhouse, who died in October 2017, was Wintour’s biggest cheerleader. But there are rumors that his presumed successor Jonathan Newhouse — who is chairman of Condé Nast International and has been in London running the company’s international arm — is coming back to New York. Jonathan, ‘doesn’t like [the amount of power] Anna has‘ and favors Enninful, one source tells Page Six.”

Reps for Condé Nast declined to comment on Jonathan Newhouse.

Other insiders tell Page Six that “consultants are currently in the Condé offices reviewing the firm’s financials to identify how the company moves forward in the current media climate, identifying cuts and changes. But they insist this is a regular, yearly process.”

“The news comes as Condé struggles amid a shift in the publishing industry. Under Wintour’s watch as artistic director, Condé has closed the print editions of Teen Vogue, Self and Details and it has fought to compete online after closing down Style.com. Sources told The Post that the company is about $100 million a year in red ink.”

And while many fashion insiders say that Vogue without Wintour is unimaginable, other Condé Nast grandees have been toppling left and right.

“But well-connected Wintour won’t be short of other offers — she may be eyeing a big fashion position back in England, such as leading the British Fashion Council. It was previously reported Wintour had hoped to land an ambassadorial position in London had her friend Hillary Clinton won the presidency.”

There’s even buzz that Wintour’s exit interview has already been arranged and granted to the New York Times.

Stay tuned to DM Fashion Book as this story develops!

Photos Credit: Getty Images

Source: Page Six