Inside Anna Wintour's Mysterious Private World

Anna Wintour and Naomi Campbell Throw Shade astatine One Another During Fashion Awards Show successful NYC

If you saw Anna Wintour in the elevator, you did not speech to her. In fact, you avoided oculus interaction altogether.

Sure, if you were Sarah Jessica Parker or Gisele Bündchen or Hillary Clinton, you were astir apt successful the elevator to see her. But if you were conscionable immoderate lower-level staffer at Vogue or different visiting the venerable publication's Manhattan headquarters...please, courteously look away.

That was the content extracurricular the hallowed halls of Vogue successful 2004, anyway, a twelvemonth aft the novel The Devil Wears Prada skewered the manner mag concern and the quality of "Runway" editor Miranda Priestley—whom astir people assumed was a thinly veiled instrumentality connected Wintour. A chic, silver-haired Meryl Streep would further immortalize the character successful the 2006 film.

"It wasn't a one-to-one portrayal," writer Lauren Weisberger, who spent 11 months moving arsenic Wintour's assistant, told the Daily Mail successful 2010. "But of people my clip astatine Vogue informed the book, there's nary denying that."

"I...wanted a country wherever she is without her armor, the unpeeled country successful the edifice room—just to spot that look without it protective glaze, to glimpse the pistillate successful the businesswoman," Streep recalled to Variety for the film's 10th day successful 2016. Having ever insisted that she ne'er tried to play Wintour, per se, she channeled a assortment of men.

"The dependable I got from Clint Eastwood," said the actress, who scored 1 of her grounds 21 Oscar nominations for her performance. "He never, ever, ever raises his dependable and everyone has to thin successful to listen, and helium is automatically the astir almighty idiosyncratic successful the room. But helium is not funny. That I stole from Mike Nichols. The mode the cruelest cutting remark, if it is delivered with a tiny self-amused curlicue of irony, is the astir effectual instruction, the astir memorable correction, due to the fact that everyone laughs, adjacent the target. The walk, I'm afraid, is mine."

Streep, incidentally, was connected the December 2010 screen of Vogue, truthful immoderate feelings her show engendered were not hard.

"It was entertainment," Wintour said of the film, telling 60 Minutes in 2009, "It was not a existent rendition of what happens wrong this magazine."

But considering however overmuch Streep enactment into conjuring this larger-than-life character, you tin ideate however hard the Anna Wintour had to enactment to ascend to her real-life relation moving the 132-year-old instauration that is Vogue (duties she's juggled since 2020 with being Global Chief Content Officer of steadfast Condé Nast, arsenic good arsenic creator manager since 2013).

"I grew up astatine a clip erstwhile women inactive near the meal array truthful men could fume their cigars and speech astir the existent issues of the day," she told the Financial Times in an interrogation published Sept. 22.

No 1 has ever suggested that Wintour isn't a pugnacious boss, but radical proceed to privation to beryllium portion of the still vibrant and glamorous (if not arsenic overmuch taste-dictating) world that "Nuclear Wintour"—a holdover nickname from her days successful complaint of British Vogue—has cultivated successful her 36 years atop Vogue's masthead.

Ironically, rumors started swirling successful aboriginal 2018 that the Met Gala that May, the yearly $30,000-a-ticket, A-list affair that has usurped the Oscars arsenic fashion's astir exciting red carpet (former Vogue originative manager Grace Coddington credited Wintour with seeing "the personage happening coming earlier everyone other did"), would beryllium her last as Vogue editor successful chief.

If true, it was going to be the extremity of an era. A "host of stunned sources" told Page Six that Wintour could permission arsenic aboriginal arsenic that summertime pursuing her girl Bee Shaffer's wedding. 

Six years later, Wintour remains astatine the helm of it all.

"I emotion what I do," she told the Financial Times. "I americium consistently challenged by it."

In 2020, successful the aftermath of Vogue coming nether occurrence for a historical past of diverseness successful its bureau and wrong its pages, Wintour was promoted to global editorial manager with a committedness to bash amended astatine each of it.

Asked during a speech astatine the Vogue Festival successful London successful 2016 however she got on with idiosyncratic as dominant as Wintour, the fiery-haired Coddington quipped, "I'm older than she is."

More seriously, Coddington told 60 Minutes of Wintour, "I deliberation she enjoys being not wholly approachable." And successful her 2012 book Grace: A Memoir, she remembered realizing decades beforehand "how overmuch value Anna places connected willpower trumping feelings."

Let's conscionable say, Wintour doesn't deterioration those gigantic achromatic sunglasses 98 percent of the clip solely to shield her eyes from UV rays. 

She doesn't person a idiosyncratic Instagram relationship oregon anything, but a fewer years agone she opened up her bright country bureau astatine One World Trade Center, afloat of caller blooms, framed photographs and the sleek table wherever truthful galore decisions are made, to answer Vogue's 73 Questions. (She has Starbucks each morning, she doesn't portion alcohol, Hugh Jackman is her favourite enactment star, you'll ne'er drawback her successful head-to-toe black, her favourite abrogation spot is location and each the rumors astir her are true.)

In different lighthearted moments, Wintour was revealed arsenic the drama mastermind down Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld in a superb spot on Late Night With Seth Meyers, wherever girl Bee utilized to enactment arsenic a conception producer. In 2016 she swapped lives with Vogue cover miss Amy Schumer for a time and did a acceptable astatine the Comedy Store. And successful 2018 past twelvemonth she sat down with James Corden (her favourite comedian) for "Spill Your Guts oregon Fill Your Guts," during which she took a wound of bacon-wrapped pizza alternatively than pronounce Ralph Lauren oregon Marc Jacobs amended than the other.

Not precisely the crystal queen everyone's talking about—though she did deterioration sunglasses a batch of the time.

"They are earnestly useful," Wintour explained to 60 Minutes about the crushed she's astir ne'er without a pair, usually Chanel and, nowadays astatine least, corrective. "I tin beryllium successful a amusement and if I americium bored retired of my mind, cipher volition notice… At this point, they person become, really, armor." Moreover, she told CNN's Amanpour, they're "incredibly utile due to the fact that you debar radical knowing what you're reasoning about."

Even Queen Elizabeth II didn't get a look at the whites of Wintour's green eyes erstwhile they sat adjacent to each different astatine London Fashion Week successful February 2019, a determination that didn't beryllium good with royal enthusiasts but which the monarch herself didn't look to mind. If anyone was going to recognize a powerful woman who's acceptable successful her ways, it was the precocious queen.

Wintour has said she rises astatine 5 a.m. and loves to some play and ticker tennis arsenic often arsenic possible—as evidenced by her yearly beingness astatine the U.S. Open, wherever for years she cheered for favourite Roger Federer—and past made him co-chair of the Met Gala aft helium retired.

In summation to her play location successful Mastic, N.Y., connected Long Island, she owns a historical four-story townhouse successful Greenwich Village. She's been sporting the aforesaid haircut with heavy bangs since astatine slightest the 1980s—the "Anna bob" is evidently an institution. (Though the mag concern has changed a batch implicit the past decade, 60 Minutes reported that Condé Nast picked up the tab for her makeup and those impeccable blowouts every time of the week.) She's invariably successful skirts oregon dresses and loves a bully people (or two).

While that has mystified those who would presume that her footwear closet would be the 8th wonderment of the world, it makes consciousness if she'd alternatively support the spotlight connected her outfit. Or possibly Wintour's toes conscionable request to breathe!

"I ne'er remark connected the fig of pairs anyone orders, but Anna ever likes to person her shoes, similar everything successful her wardrobe, impeccable astatine each times," Blahnik, who designed the not-available-to-the-public "A.W." for Wintour, told Vogue successful 2011. "I often speech to Anna astir what's inspiring her that peculiar play and what she's ordered for her wardrobe. Anna has fantastic legs, and her feet are ever meticulously groomed."

Talking to the Telegraph successful 2016, Blahnik called Wintour, who's featured prominently successful his java array book Fleeting Gestures and Obsessions and the documentary The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards, "a divine woman. So mean and loyal. We went to the movies unneurotic each the clip successful New York, due to the fact that we loved movies. So we went astatine 9 o'clock successful the morning. This was earlier she was astatine Vogue. No clip now, mediocre thing."

As for her idiosyncratic life, Wintour is the girl of Charles Wintour, who edited London's Evening Standard, and Eleanor Baker, a movie critic, and she was named aft her maternal grandmother. Her member Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for The Guardian and sister Nora Wintour is simply a writer and argumentation advisor connected concern relations and labour rights. Another brother, Gerald, died successful a bicycle mishap astatine 14.

After leaving schoolhouse astatine 16 ("a operation of being a lazy pupil and having brothers and sisters who were precise academic," Wintour told the FT), she worked connected the income level astatine the section stores Biba and Harrods. Her begetter helped her get her archetypal editorial occupation astatine manner publication Harper's & Queen in London, and past she moved to New York successful the 1970s. Stints at Harper's Bazaar and New York led to her being hired arsenic Vogue's originative director.

In 1984, she joined pediatric psychiatrist David Shaffer, so after she was named exertion of British Vogue the pursuing twelvemonth she racked up a lot of aerial miles. 

Bryan, who hails from Houston, likewise told Texas Monthly successful 1999, "There's an old-fashioned presumption that your idiosyncratic beingness should beryllium kept private, and that's my view."

The initially scandalous coupling people prompted a question of finger-waving, arsenic good arsenic the accustomed speculation that possibly Wintour wouldn't beryllium successful her lofty presumption astatine Vogue much longer.

"What I consciousness atrocious astir is radical trying to usage immoderate concern is going connected successful her beingness to onslaught her professionally," Oscar de la Renta told New York as rumors swirled that her bosses astatine Condé Nast could beryllium losing religion successful her. "Is she giving up her job? Is she not doing as good a job? It's casual to effort to bushed idiosyncratic down. But anyone who'd effort to bash that to her would beryllium a fool."

Isaac Mizrahi viewed Wintour's romance with Bryan astir enthusiastically, saying, "She's ne'er seemed truthful giggly and sparkly-eyed and beauteous and happy. Listen, this doesn't look similar a situation to me. To me, it looks similar a liberation!"

Wintour and Bryan were unneurotic astatine the U.S. Open successful 2018, but nary 1 was the wiser erstwhile they yet divided up, People reporting successful October 2020 that Wintour and Bryan had gone their abstracted ways some years beforehand.

Wintour's photograph op astatine the 2023 Met Gala with Bill Nighy prompted a rhythm of speculation that they were an point making their reddish carpet debut, but a rep for the Oscar-nominated British actor confirmed to E! News afterward that "they person simply been large friends for 2 decade" and were not successful a relationship. (Nighy shares histrion girl Mary Nighy with his erstwhile longtime spouse Diana Quick.)

Charles and Elizabeth welcomed girl Caroline Anne Shaffer successful March 2017 and her sister Ella was calved successful February 2019, portion Bee and Francesco had son Oliver successful October 2021.

Wintour remains synonymous with Vogue, but she hasn't lived the 24/7 publishing manner for immoderate time, nowadays leaving enactment astatine what she described to the FT as a "reasonable hour" and spending weekends with her household successful Mastic.

"For me, erstwhile I'm location with my kids and the grandchildren and my friends astatine home, we don't speech astir work," she said. "We play tennis, and anserine games. That's my solace."

And portion Wintour is already reasoning astir next year's Met Gala theme, you tin relive the champion manner moments from this year's lawsuit close here: