Great Britain Grande Dame of "Vogue": Anna Wintour turns 75

Large dark sunglasses, neatly cut bob with a fringe and haute couture dress: Anna Wintour has made herself a brand with recognition value. "Even her hairstyle is visible from outer space," the British Guardian once quipped. As a journalist, she made it to the top of the US fashion magazine "Vogue", and since 2020 she has been responsible for the content of all "Vogue" issues worldwide and for almost everything published by Condé Nast in the USA. On Sunday (November 3), the grande dame of fashion magazines will be 75 years old - but she is not thinking about stopping. "I love what I do. It challenges me again and again."

Prada-wearing devil?

Ever since the successful 2006 film "The Devil Wears Prada", in which Meryl Streep plays a magazine editor-in-chief unmistakably based on Wintour, the "Vogue" editor has had a reputation as a devilishly nasty boss who constantly wants the impossible and is unforgiving of any mistakes. This has also become a building block of her brand - and she takes it in her stride. "Sometimes there's a certain kind of personal criticism against me that a man in my position probably wouldn't get," the fashion icon once said - but also: "I'm very focused. So perhaps because of my clarity and focus, I didn't let that get to me."

Wintour admits that she is not really good at delegating. "The devil is simply in the detail. But I'm not a creative person, I can't paint, I can't draw, I can't make anything - I just have to make sure everything is done right."

Tennis with children and grandchildren

She is often described as having a "vivid imagination". "I really hope that my colleagues know who I am and what our shared values are. And I know that my son Charlie and my daughter Bee know exactly who I am and who I am not," says Wintour, who was married to child psychologist David Shaffer between 1984 and 1999. When she spends time with her two children and three grandchildren, she doesn't talk about work. "We play tennis and silly games. That's my comfort."

Wintour was born in London in 1949, the daughter of a newspaper publisher. "I grew up in a time when women still left the dinner table so that men could smoke their cigars and talk about the really important issues." Wintour left school at 16. "I honestly wasn't very good. And I wanted to be independent and do my own thing. It was a mixture of being lazy and having brothers and sisters who were very good academically."

Wintour's first jobs in department stores and various magazines led her to US "Vogue", where she has been editor-in-chief since 1988. The magazine world around her has changed completely in the meantime. "In my first job as a young girl in the UK, it was a great thing when we reached 90,000 people." Today, the Instagram profile of "Vogue" alone has almost 50 million fans. At the same time, however, the print circulation of many magazines continues to fall and advertising revenue is collapsing.

Kamala Harris on the "Vogue" cover

Like the entire industry, Wintour is also looking for ways to combat this - one of which is to take a stand. For example, the grande dame is positioning herself firmly on the side of the Democrats in the US presidential election campaign. She celebrated former First Lady Michelle Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on the cover of "Vogue", while current presidential candidate Kamala Harris has already had two covers.

In contrast, the magazine did not dedicate a cover to Melania Trump during her time as First Lady - and Wintour's opinion is also clear with regard to Melania's husband, former US President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump. What could he do to be invited back to the legendary "Met Gala", with which Wintour celebrates the party with the most coveted guest list in New York every year at the Metropolitan Museum? "Absolutely nothing."

SDA