fashionologie

fashionologie — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:09:19 PST

>> INSIDER WIRE -Is "Change!" afoot, as the January 2009 cover of Vogue touts? Despite all the rumors otherwise, it looks like Anna Wintour is staying put - just like Si Newhouse said. According to "industry sources" - the numbers aren't publicly released - Vogue "was the most profitable magazine [for Conde Nast] this year." Which in theory means good things for dear Anna - but it's always important to remember that Grace Mirabella, who Wintour replaced, tripled Vogue's circulation and built the magazine to be one of the "consistently largest advertising-revenue producers of any publication in America," but was still unceremoniously sacked when she was no longer taking risks - a fault that an increasing number would say Anna has. [Page Six]

Vogue Feeling the Financial Burn, Will Anna Wintour Pay?

fashionologie — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:58:07 PDT

>> There's no question about it: Magazines are hurting in these economic times. The first, unofficial magazine circulation numbers are out for the first half of the year, and Anna Wintour could be in trouble.

Vogue and Teen Vogue (which is Anna's pet project) are both losing circulation by double-digit percentages (15.1% and 15.7%, respectively), beat only by Oprah's magazine O at 16.4%. Amy Gross, O's former editor-in-chief, supposedly voluntarily stepped down from her position in April, but these numbers suggest that perhaps the move was less than voluntary.

So is Anna Wintour's job on the line? The previous editor, Grace Mirabella, was ousted unexpectedly — the magazine was in good form at the time — at 58 after seventeen years in the saddle. And before Grace, Diana Vreeland was at the helm for eight years, replaced at 68. Anna, at 58, just passed the twenty-year milestone as Vogue's editor-in-chief, causing many to speculate that she's in the sweet spot for dismissal.

A recent New York Times profile of Conde Nast chairman Si Newhouse referred to Vogue as one of the "jewels in the Newhouse crown," and also mentioned that Si dislikes confrontation so much, a number of dismissed editors have said their first indication of trouble came when they were fired, which explains Grace Mirabella's abrupt discharge.

Vogue is one of Conde Nast's most profitable magazines, and Si is known for his "willingness to absorb years of losses on magazines he considers promising," sometimes choosing personal interest over the financial numbers, but will this apply to Vogue? It will, for sure, be interesting to see.
*image: source

Peter Lindbergh Is Returning to the Fold at Vogue

fashionologie — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:05:33 PDT

>> Peter Lindbergh, who moved from working with Vogue to Harper's Bazaar in 1992 when Liz Tilberis lured him away - “I switched to Bazaar and stayed away for all these years" - is ending his 18 year hiatus from Vogue. Part of the reason he left originally, he said, was because Alexander Lieberman and Grace Mirabella weren't fans of his images of supermodels splayed on the beach: “They told me we can’t handle the women you’re photographing."

He plans to begin work again with Vogue, as well as other Conde Nast publications in the US, after a recent tete-a-tete with Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington. “They asked,” he told WWD. “It was like you are the black sheep in the family, and your older brother asks you to come home.”

He also thinks "fashion photography has gotten a little lost" »

Au Revoir, Anna Wintour? Retirement Rumored

fashionologie — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:30:10 PST

>> Is Anna Wintour ready to put the cap at twenty years of Vogue? Her contract is said to be up soon, according to a Page Six source, and she's thinking of retiring: "She feels she's done it all and had enough. She has been putting out feelers to intimate friends recommending a possible replacement to Si Newhouse. She's so tired out, she just let Men's Vogue close instead of fighting for it."

This news is especially timely, since Vogue's decreasing ad numbers just came out, and Si Newhouse is about to take his annual month-long European sabbatical in December - the one where he figures out what at Conde Nast needs fixing and then comes back in January, the month when he typically hires and fires, making big changes at the company.

Si is famous for his dislike of confrontation, and many of his editors in the past have said their first inkling of trouble was when they were fired - the editor Anna replaced at Vogue, Grace Mirabella, was never given a reason for her dismissal, and found out about it from a television report.

Sudden and unforeseen dismissal doesn't seem a way Anna would want to go - she always has to be on top of her game - so retirement seems more in character. A rep denies the reports, but I'm more curious about these replacements she's suggested. Honestly, who could instill the fascination and fear that Anna can?
*image: source