>> INSIDER WIRE —More rumors have hit that Anna Wintour is looking for a place in the Obama administration — possibly as ambassador to Britain — but a rep denies them, and we can likely chalk it up to the fact that she has contract negotiations coming up.  But it sounds like the Anna situation isn't the only thing Si Newhouse is about to have on his plate: New York's Monday cover story — online Sunday night at 10 pm — is titled "Si Newhouse's Dream Factory" and the teaser reads: "Conde Nast's own stars compare their glossy empire to the MGM of Old Hollywood, but no one would wish it the same fate. What happens to a magazine empire built on glossy fantasies when harsher realities intrude?" [Page Six, FWD]

>> 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]

>> Just to round out yesterday's bout of Anna Wintour in, Carine Roitfeld out rumors followed by Si Newhouse's denial, Carine also denied the rumor last night in London, where she was overseeing a photoshoot with Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott and then heading to Paris for the Chanel Paris-Moscow showing today: "I'm very happy at Vogue France."

And just like Si, another senior official at Conde Nast laughed the rumor off yesterday: "I would eat my hat if such a changeover came about. It is borderline theatre of the absurd."  But again, it's important to remember that everyone is denying that Carine is replacing Anna, not the rumor that Anna is going to retire or be replaced — no one has commented on that.
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>> After all the rumors on Gawker today that Anna Wintour was going to be replaced as editor-in-chief of Vogue by Carine Roitfeld starting in January 2009, Si Newhouse decided to put the talk to rest.  After receiving a copy of the original Gawker item via fax in Europe, he denied through a spokeswoman that anything was amuck: "It’s the silliest rumor I ever heard. There is no truth to it."

When asked about the possibility of her mother Carine replacing Anna a couple of weeks ago, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld also dismissed the possibility: "I don’t know how that rumor started.  She loves Paris too much — she’d never leave."

The general consensus seems to be that Carine wouldn't be a good fit for Vogue — unless there were some massive changes in the prioritities of ad sales, circulation size, and creative appearance made — but as for Anna being on the outs?  Who knows . . . what executive would do anything but deny a rumor before he's ready for it to be outed?

UPDATE: Over at Fashion Week Daily, they've heard another editor's name floated around as Anna's possible replacement — British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, who as the clues indicate, trains the incoming Vogue editors and is "not too tall, not too short, 'deplores plastic surgery' and is sporting a fresh new fringe."  My best guess for promoting someone within Vogue would have to ride with Sally Singer.
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>> Did Lauren Weisberger predict the future?  The Devil Wears Prada had Miranda Priestly, the Anna Wintour character, being replaced by Jacqueline Follet, the Carine Roitfeld character — until Miranda maneuvered her way out of it — and according to rumors, that might just be what is in the works in real life.

Talk of Anna Wintour's retirement has been running rampant, especially with Anna's deflated "leave me alone" response when asked about the retirement rumors, and her daughter Bee Shaffer's recent comment about how she would be "staying far away from Vogue."  Last night, Conde Nast insiders were overheard talking about how Si Newhouse left early for his three-week December vacation in Vienna — the one during which he usually makes big strategical changes in the company — purportedly to meet in Paris with Carine Roitfeld and finalize details about her moving to New York and taking over at Vogue at the beginning of next year.

Wintour may well be on the outs — she has been at the magazine twenty years, her domain at Conde Nast shrunk recently, Vogue's ad pages dropped this year, and her supposed $2 million per year salary could be seen as a hindrance in this economy — but is Carine the right fit?  She loves being subversive and has a substantially smaller circulation at Vogue Paris — two things that wouldn't fly with American Vogue, unless Si really is looking for the magazine to be entirely restructured.  But would Carine want to leave all the freedom she has now behind?  She'd definitely be scrutinized much more closely at Vogue.  And what about staff?  The editors at Vogue Paris and Vogue have entirely different styles and personalities.  But her daughter, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, does live in New York . . .
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>> 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?
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>> Vogue India has been around just short of a year, but it's already causing uproar.  A spread that appeared in the August 2008 issue, featuring "real" Indian people carrying $10,000 Birkin bags or $200 Burberry umbrellas, is being called "downright distasteful" and an "example of vulgarity" because nearly half of India's population lives on less than $1.25 a day. 

Vogue India editor-in-chief Priya Tanna's responded by standing her ground:

Lighten up . . . Fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful. You have to remember with fashion, you can’t take it that seriously. We weren’t trying to make a political statement or save the world.

The depiction was worsened in critics' eyes because the subjects were not identified by name — the brands of the accessories were identified in the captions, which they then say are worn by a lady or a man.

Vogue India is not the first edition of Vogue to stir controversy this year; In fact, it was reported earlier this year that Si Newhouse, Conde Nast's chairman (and therefore Vogue overseer) delights in the controversies his magazines create. So perhaps — Anna Wintour and Priya Tanna — they were just pleasing their boss.
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>> 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.
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>> The awesome caricature that The New York Observer recently ran, parodying the April 2008 cover of Vogue with Anna Wintour and Conde Nast owner Si Newhouse in place of LeBron James and Gisele, has a new owner. 

Observer owner Jared Kushner gifted Andre Leon Talley the original illustration after purchasing it for somewhere in the range of $1,000-$10,000.  Especially fun is the fact that ALT was bidding on the drawing himself, so he really did want it.  Can you imagine it sitting, framed, in his office at Vogue?  Or maybe it's a gift for Anna herself . . .

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