You've seen them kicking the asses of their lazy socialite interns on assorted reality tv shows, barking out orders both fictional and actual on the silver screen in the September Issue and Devil Wears Prada. You've loved to hate Anna, been utterly charmed by Grace, mindblown by Franca and have recently fallen hard for the charms of Dello Russo. They are the queens and kings to whom belong the gilded keys to our fashion kingdom, the visionaries and leaders who have built the fashion industry into what it is today and will continue to shape its future. They are the editors.From London to New York to Paris to Milan, they reign supreme from their glossy magazine towers, quietly orchestrating what it is we masses will be wearing season in, season out. They are the visionaries, the exceptional businessmen and women, the leaders that keep this whole shibang cracking ever onwards from Spring/Summer to Autumn/Winter. And it's about time someone dedicated some time and energy to celebrating their efforts and outfits.
"It's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when in fact - you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of "stuff,"'Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in Devil Wears Prada
Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief, American Vogue
"Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid"--Twitter, August 22, 2010
"Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid"--Twitter, August 22, 2010
About Anna: (born November 3, 1949) Wintour is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue and has held the position since 1988. Wintour is the reining queen of the fashion industry, the editrix for whom all shows wait and whose unwavering support for young talent has launched dozens of glittering careers.
In 2003 Anna's former personal assistant, Lauren Weisberger, penned the bestselling roman à clef The Devil Wears Prada, later made into a successful film starring Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a fashion editor widely believed to be based on Wintour. In 2009 she was the focus of another film, R.J. Cutler's documentary The September Issue.
In 2003 Anna's former personal assistant, Lauren Weisberger, penned the bestselling roman à clef The Devil Wears Prada, later made into a successful film starring Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a fashion editor widely believed to be based on Wintour. In 2009 she was the focus of another film, R.J. Cutler's documentary The September Issue.
Signature Style: The infamous perfect blond bob, large dark sunnies, a bit of fur, and a bit of Oscar
AnnaWatch on CW: Wintour Honoured at 2010 NYC & Company Gala; Fashion Ambassador to China?; Moma Benefit; at NYFW AW10; Franca & Anna BFFs; Three Cheers for the September Issue; Anna at MFW SS11; Anna Smiles at PFW SS11
Franca Sozzani, Editor in Chief Vogue Italia
"When I think of Vogue's fashion features, I think of the ideas behind them, perhaps extreme, used to convey a strong message, far from being a stereotype. If they become one, it is due to a series of factors. Sometimes just a lucky coincidence..." Blog di Direttore, December 7, 2010
"When I think of Vogue's fashion features, I think of the ideas behind them, perhaps extreme, used to convey a strong message, far from being a stereotype. If they become one, it is due to a series of factors. Sometimes just a lucky coincidence..." Blog di Direttore, December 7, 2010
About Franca: (born January 20, 1950) Franca Sozzani has been the editor of Vogue Italia since 1988. Of all the Vogues, Italia's installation has always been the most arty and least commercial with a strong emphasis on cutting edge fashion editorial shot by the world's very very best photographers.
Franca is the author of several books about photography, fashion, art and design, including: 30 Years of Italian Vogue (1994), Visitors (20 Museums for the Florence Biennale of Fashion and Art; 1996), A Noir (an exploration of the colour Black between fashion and art, published by Assouline, 1998), Style in Progress (30 years of L’Uomo Vogue, 1998), Valentino’s Red Book (2000) and Artists At Work (an itinerary among the most important British artists of the time, published by Assouline, 2003) and Capricci Della Moda (2010).
Signature Style: Gorgeous print dresses, fur stoles in wintertime and that angelic golden mane
FrancaWatch on CW: Franca Concedes to the Ugg; On the Standardization of Fashion Parts 1&2; Pirelli Calendar Launch; Roberto Cavalli Book Launch; Franca on ANTM Cycle 15; Franca at MFW SS11; Ten Corso Como; Franca at NYFW SS11
Follow Franca: on Twitter...and her AMAZING blog
Carine Roitfeld, Editor in Chief Vogue Paris
"Age is something that does not matter...unless you're a cheese"--via Twitter, June 30, 2010
"Age is something that does not matter...unless you're a cheese"--via Twitter, June 30, 2010
About Carine: (born on 19 September 1954) Carine has been EIC at French Vogue since 2001. Carine got her start in the fashion industry after being scouted to model on the streets of Paris at 18. She soon tucked herself away behind the camera, becoming first a writer and then a stylist for French Elle. While she was working as a freelance stylist, her daughter, Julia (now a full grown fashion icon in her own right), was in a children's fashion shoot for Italian Vogue Bambini in 1990, photographed by Mario Testino. Soon after, Roitfeld and Testino teamed up and began to sign major campaigns as well as shooting editorials for American and French Vogue. Carine went on to work as a consultant and muse for Tom Ford at Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent for six years until she was approached by Conde Nast International Chairman Jonathan Newhouse to edit French Vogue in 2001 where she has been sitting pretty ever since.
Signature Style: The ultimate in French chic, Madame Roitfeld favors Emilio Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Rick Owens, Gucci...NOT Balenciaga (Roitfeld was blacklisted by the house in 2009). She loves her Pucci python metallic trench and is always dressed to perfection,
CarineWatch on CW: Repeat Offender; Victoria's Secret Show 2010; at LFW AW10; at NYFW SS11; at MFW SS11 with Anna Dello Russo; Like Mother Like Daughter Outside Chanel; Julia's 30th
Follow Carine: On Twitter
Signature Style: The ultimate in French chic, Madame Roitfeld favors Emilio Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Rick Owens, Gucci...NOT Balenciaga (Roitfeld was blacklisted by the house in 2009). She loves her Pucci python metallic trench and is always dressed to perfection,
CarineWatch on CW: Repeat Offender; Victoria's Secret Show 2010; at LFW AW10; at NYFW SS11; at MFW SS11 with Anna Dello Russo; Like Mother Like Daughter Outside Chanel; Julia's 30th
Follow Carine: On Twitter
Anna Dello Russo, Editor at Large, Vogue Nippon
"I don't want to be cool, I want to be fashion!"
"I don't want to be cool, I want to be fashion!"
About Anna Dello Russo: The darling du jour of the fashion industry, Anna Dello Russo, in my opinion has been the first to successfully seize the attention thrown onto editors of late and really propel herself into the realm of celebrity, hence holding the title of what I have termed the first "Edilebrity." Technically, Anna is the editor at large and creative consultant for Vogue Nippon, though of late her own blog (www.annadellorusso.com) and assorted antics in the press have been the focus of discussion. She has a bachelors degree in Italian Literature and Art History and attended the Domus Academy in Milan. Previously she spent 18 years at Condé Nast Italia as Fashion Editor at Vogue Italia and serving as Editor of L'Uomo Vogue from 2000-2006. She has gone on record to state that she owns over 4,000 pairs of shoes and in December 2010, she became the first editrix to have her scent bottled.
Signature Style: If it's come down a runway, if it involves feathers, if the heel is over 6 inches...it's for Dello Russo. She is fast becoming the most important style icon of the moment with her outlandish tast and ability to make pretty much any look work.
RussoWatch on CW: Scent of Anna Dello Russo, the Video; Anna and the Sartorialist; at PFW SS11; at MFW SS11; More MFW; Italian Editrixes in Paris; Catwalk for the Paps at MFW;
Andre Leon Talley
“Most of the Vogue girls are so thin, tremendously thin, because Miss Anna don't like fat people.”--2008
About Andre: (born October 16, 1949) the former American editor-at-large for American Vogue, Talley has been a front-row regular at fashion shows in New York, Paris, London and Milan for more than 25 years and is Wintour's right-hand mand He uses his influence to promote young fashion designers and mentors young talent in other fields.
“Most of the Vogue girls are so thin, tremendously thin, because Miss Anna don't like fat people.”--2008
About Andre: (born October 16, 1949) the former American editor-at-large for American Vogue, Talley has been a front-row regular at fashion shows in New York, Paris, London and Milan for more than 25 years and is Wintour's right-hand mand He uses his influence to promote young fashion designers and mentors young talent in other fields.His most famous pairings of late have been with designers Tracy Reese, Rachel Roy, and singer/actress Jennifer Hudson. He is known as a very close friend of pop diva Mariah Carey, fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons, and tennis star Venus Williams. In 2007, he was ranked 45th in Out Magazine's "50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America." As of November 2010, Talley is currently serving on the judging panel for America's Next Top Model where he has coined the brilliant phrase "Dreckitude" to denote all things defiantly non-VOGUE!
Signature Style: Capes, turbans...anything fabulous
ALTWatch on CW: at NYFW SS11
Follow ALT: on Twitter
Grace Coddington, Creative Director, American Vogue
"Anna and I, we’ve known each other a long time. We have a real mutual respect for each other, even though sometimes I feel like killing her"--The September Issue, 2009
About Grace: (born 1941) a former model and the creative director of American Vogue, Grace is the industry's most beloved and most talented stylist known for her fiery red mane. At the age of 26, Grace was in car accident which left her disfigured (she lost her eyelid). She later had plastic surgery to have it reconstructed. Two years after the accident, at the age of 28, she was interviewed by British Vogue's Editor, Beatrix Miller and she was employed as a Junior Editor. After nineteen years as Photo Editor with British Vogue, she moved to New York to work for Calvin Klein and In July 1988, she joined Anna Wintour at American Vogue, where she remains the magazine's creative director.
Grace rose to fame in 2009 with the release of The September Issue and has a long standing and much professed love of Cats.
Signature Style: If it ain't al black everything, it ain't on Grace Coddington's person
GraceWatch on CW: At the Chanel Soho Party; at PFW SS11; at MFW SS11
Follow Grace on: Facebook
The Elle Squad: Robbie Myers Editor in Chief and Joe Zee Creative Director, American Elle
"Let me know when Facebook is back up & working. I need to know who's single, who's engaged, who's breathing, who's tired and who's eating." Joe Zee via Twitter September 23, 2010
About Robbie: Prior to Elle, Robbie had worked for various fashion magazines beginning her career as an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone shortly after moving to New York City in 1982. After leaving Rolling Stone, she worked for Interview under Andy Warhol, became the editor of "Careers" at age 25, and then moved on to Seventeen and InStyle. She became Editor in Chief of Elle in 2000.
About Joe: (born 1986) Born in Hong Kong Joe Zee moved to Toronto at age 2 and moved to New York in 1990 to enroll at FIT. Fresh out of school, he scored a job at Allure magazine where he worked for three years. Zee was named Creative Director at Elle in 2007 and became a popular figure after appearing on MTV's the City. Mr. Joe Zee is also an avid Tweeter.
Signature Style: Corporate, black shades n' Blackberries
ElleWatch on CW: The Elle Squad at MFW; MFW 2
Follow the Elle Squad: Joe Zee on Twitter
Suzy Menkes, Fashion Editor, International Herald Tribune
"Maybe that's how I'll go--just pop off at a fashion show." --The New Yorker, 2001
About Suzy: (born 24 December 1943) Fashion Editor for the International Herald Tribune since 1988 and read history and English literature at Cambridge. After graduation, she took up a job reporting on fashion for the Times. Menkes is a true icon in the world of fashion journalism, a sharp writer with an acerbic tone that's not afraid to voice her true opinions.
MenkesWatch on CW: at MFW SS11, MFW AW10
Signature Style: That pompadour and a poison pen
Follow Suzy Menkes: NY Times Fashion
Kate Lanphear, Style Director, American Elle
"That’s the thing about fashion: You can use it to hide, but it’s only magic when you use it to express who you really are." --Elle.com 2009
About Kate: American born, Lanphear is a regular front row face at fashion week and a favorite with the street style photographers. She has held posts at both Vogue Australia and Harper's Bazaar and most recently, she's been appointed Senior Style Director at US Elle. Her androgynous style and queen-of-the-sidewalk status has made her a celebrity in Japan.
Signature Style: Icy blond pixi crop and a closet full of edgy designers from Alexander Wang to Martin Margiela to Balmain. She favors mannish styles and does the androgynous thing better than any other editor on the block.
KateWatch on CW: at PFW SS11, at PFW SS11 2
Follow Kate: on Facebook
Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director, The Daily Telegraph
About Hilary: Born in New Zealand, she is the Editor that never sleeps. A relentless traveller (and cat-lover) Hilary is at every single show at fashion week no matter what. She is probably the most important Fashion Editor in the UK. Hilary has extensive broadcast experience that includes three years on BBC 2’s Style Challenge, regular appearances on GMTV, Lorraine Kelly, BBC Breakfast and various documentaries for BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4, as well as the fashion stylist for the first season of Britain's Next top model. Hilary was the featured stylist in the Living TV series “Britain’s Next Top Model” in 2005 and 2006 and also appears in the latest series. She won British Fashion Journalist of the Year 2003, the second time she has won this award. She was first named British Fashion Journalist of the Year in 1998 and though not always biggest fan of the blogosphere, a bit of a compulsive Tweeter.
Signature Style: Eccentric and thoroughly British, Hilary can often be found in printed chiffon dresses, floral or otherwise, often adorned with a chunky necklace with her square glasses precariously ever balanced on her nose.
HilaryWatch on CW: at the 2010 BFA's, At Lanvin for H&M, at MFW SS11, at NYFW AW10,
Follow Hilary: Telegraph Online, on Twitter
Anna Piaggi Italian Fashion Writer and Style Icon
"The world's last great authority on frocks"--Manolo Blahnik
About Anna Piaggi: having written for many magazines, most frequently Italian Vogue and, in the 1980s, the avant-garde magazine Vanity. She is known especially for her lavishdouble page spreads in Vogue Italia, the Doppie Pagine (Double Pages) which she has been shooting since 1988. Since 1969, she has used a bright red manual Olivetti valentine typewriter for her work.
Piaggi has a large clothes collection, including 2865 dresses and 265 pairs of shoes, according to a 2006 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London where some of her wardrobe was exhibited. She has never appeared in the same outfit more than once in public. Famous for her love of hats, she is the muse of British milliner Stephen Jones and was a great friend to the late Isabella Blow. She has lived in New York and has visited London and Italy periodically since the 1950s.
Signature Style: Ecclectic and eccentric, Signora Piaggi is fond of animal prints, bright colors and, of course, Stephen Jones hats. Her hair is often blue or pink and has seen god knows how may dye jobs over they years. She is rarely seen without fingerless gloves, mostly by UK label Glovedup Gloves.
PiaggiWatch on CW: at PFW SS11, PFW SS11 2, MFW SS11, PFW SS11 3
Follow Anna: on Facebook, on MySpace
Katie Grand, Editor in Chief, Love Magazine
"My style icon ... was Izzy Blow, she was amazing. I loved the way she wore things without caring what anyone thought."
About Katie: Named by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph as "one of the most powerful stylists in the world," Katie Grand began fashion styling while still studying at St. Martins, directing and styling fashion shoots for newly launched magazine, Dazed and Confused in the 1990s.
Then Katie was made Editor-in-Chief of POP, a newly launched bi-annual fashion magazine, which propelled her into the upper levels of the fashion stratosphere and where she promptly took to convincing A-listers to shed their clothes for covers. She once infamously convinced actress Elizabeth Hurley to pose nude on the cover of POP.
Today, Grand is the editor of LOVE, a bi-annual fashion magazine under the Conde Nast UK umbrella which she launched herself. Katie also styles many fashion photo shoots and shows including Giles and Topshop Unique.
Signature Style: Funky British ecclectic, lots of color, lots of print a..and a penchant for Nicholas Kirkwood
GrandWatch on CW: Katie Grand Styles LV Exhibition, at the 2010 BFA's
Follow Katie Grand: Love Magazine on Twitter
Alexandra Schulman, Editor in Chief, British Vogue
"In my mind I am a free spirit of about 25 wafting around in second-hand cocktail dresses; in reality I am a 47-year-old businesswoman and journalist. The pictures unfortunately, tell the whole story."
About Alexandra: (born 1958), Editor in Chief of the British edition of Vogue, she took the helm in 1992, presiding over a circulation increase to 200,000 and a higher profile for the publication. She has also written for The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail. She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Sussex University where she studied social anthropology. She began her fashion journalism career in 1982 at The Tatler, working subsequently for The Sunday Telegraph, Vogue and the British edition of GQ, where she became editor in 1990.
Her tenure at Vogue is known for the "Gold Issue," a December 2000 edition with Kate Moss on the cover in silhouette. The magazine drew criticism in the early 1990s for photos of an emaciated Moss that were dubbed "heroin chic," part of a larger ongoing debate over whether fashion magazines present an unhealthy image for girls and contribute to the anorexia problem. In 1997, Omega pulled an ad campaign from Vogue over this issue.
Shulman dismissed these concerns in a 1998 interview with the PBS public affairs television program Frontline, stating: "Not many people have actually said to me that they have looked at my magazine and decided to become anorexic."
But in 2009 Shulman spoke out over the sample sizes leading designers were producing - some were so small they restricted Vogue using the models they wished in the magazine, resulting in some models being airbrushed to look bigger. Alex Shulman wrote to designers to draw their attention to the situation calling for larger sized samples to be produced.
Signature Style: Professional with a pop of pizazz
Follow Alex: Vogue UK on Twitter
Olivier Zham Editor, Purple
“Even in the bedroom I have my camera, I sleep with my camera, I have lunch with my camera. I go to dinner with my camera and I’m recording my experience.”
About Olivier: (born September 1963) is the founder and owner of the French fashion and culture magazine Purple. Olivier Zahm worked as an art critic for Artforum, Flash Art, Art Press and Texte Zur Kunst during the 1980s and early 1990s. He is an art curator and has selected exhibitions for PS1, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou.
In 1992, Zahm founded Purple Prose magazine (1992–1998) with Elein Fleiss—the publication has also evolved spin-offs like Purple Fiction (1992–1998), Purple Sexe (1998–2001), Purple magazine (1998–2003), Purple Journal (2004–present), Purple Fashion (1995–1998, 2004–present), and Purple Books, a publishing house. The "realistic", sometimes dubbed "anti-fashion" aesthetics of Purple was a reaction against the glamour of the 80’s, and can be linked with the global counterculture of that time, with the work of Juergen Teller, Terry Richardson, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Mario Sorrenti.
Since 2004, Zahm has been editor-in-chief of Purple Fashion, a biannual magazine attempting to bridge the worlds of art and fashion. Zahm also runs the Paris-based think tank Purple Institute, an art direction society and consulting company aimed at creating links between the art world and industry, including curating a show of his photography at Paris concept store Colette in March 2010.
Signature Style: laissez faire dressing, tight tight jeans, mussed up hair, aviators and a model on each arm
ZahmWatch on CW: at PFW SS11
Follow Olivier: on Twitter
Colin McDowell, Senior Fashion Writer, The Sunday Times
About Colin: As senior fashion writer for The Sunday Times, in the 1990s and 2000s he became a familiar sight in the front row of fashion shows along with his contemporaries Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes. He is the author of some 20 books on fashion and designers, including McDowell’s Directory of 20th Century Fashion. In 2008 he was appointed Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to fashion.
In 1984 McDowell established his reputation as a writer with McDowell’s Directory of 20th Century Fashion, which became a standard reference work for fashion students. He became involved in teaching fashion in London (his students included John Galliano) and began writing for newspapers and magazines. In 1986 he became fashion writer of The Sunday Times. A vocal critic of the British fashion establishment, in 2003 McDowell founded Fashion Fringe (now known as Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden), a platform for developing new fashion talent set up jointly with international management agency IMG. He remains the creative director. He is also an avid blogger.
Signature Style: A warm smile and a dapper suit
Follow Colin: Colin's Blog
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