American Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, is legendary in the fashion world for her cool demeanour and take-no-prisoners attitude. Sources reveal that she is every bit as demanding as the fictional editor said to be based on her in the 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada.
Despite her demanding personality, Wintour has received praise for her fresh and original take on fashion journalism, which successfully re-launched Vogue. Her appointment brought new sales and prestige to the magazine, which had been losing ground to other publications. Wintour is now considered to be one of the most important trendsetters in the fashion industry and has huge power over designers and celebrities alike.
Here’s our round-up of Top 10 Need-to-Know facts about Anna Wintour
1. As a teenager she attended the prestigious North London Collegiate School, where she rebelled by flaunting the dress code and later dropping out altogether to frequent the same ‘60s clubs that were haunts of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
2. Wintour cut her hair into her trademark pageboy bob when she was 14 and has worn the same style ever since.
3. She is not the first of her family to work in publishing. Her father, Charles Wintour was editor of the London Newspaper, the Evening Standard. Her younger brother, Patrick works for The Guardian newspaper as political editor. Her stepmother founded two fashion magazines and one of her ancestors was also a novelist in the 18th century.
4. Anna Wintour is infamous for her love of fur and has often been targeted by PETA activists, provoked by her use of fur in Vogue photo spreads. On one occasion a dead raccoon was dumped onto her plate in a restaurant in protest of her pro-fur stance. Wintour reportedly told the waiter to remove it.
5. She follows a strict schedule, rising every morning before 6am and playing tennis. She has her makeup and hair done by a stylist at her home before arriving at Vogue every morning by 8am. She is in bed by 10.15pm every night and limits her time at parties to around 20 minutes.
6. Being the editor of Vogue does come with some benefits. As well as having a personal hair and makeup artist who accompanies her on business trips, Wintour’s job provides her with a chauffeur-driven Mercedes and a $200,000 shopping allowance during the fashion week events in Europe.
7. Project Runway’s Tim Gunn recounted how he once watched Anna being carried down five flights of stairs by her bodyguards after refusing to take the elevator at a fashion show in 2006.
8. Anna Wintour is famous for her high standards for celebrities appearing on the cover of the magazine. Oprah Winfrey was reportedly ordered to lose weight before her photo shoot and she told Hillary Clinton not to wear a blue suit.
9. High protein meals are commonly seen on Wintour’s daily menu. Her lunch is usually a steak or hamburger without the bun. A co-worker at Harpers & Queen claimed she used to eat nothing but scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.
10. One of Anna Wintour’s many style trademarks are the sunglasses that she wears to fashion shows. When questioned why she wears dark glasses indoors, Wintour claimed they are “seriously useful” to hide her bored expression from onlookers.
