>> Anna Wintour, Tom Florio Get New Gigs —Changes are happening all around for Anna Wintour — her fundraising efforts and continual Obama administration support have earned her one of the 25 spots on the new President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The committee, which also includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Forrest Whitaker, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Yo-Yo Ma, and Bryan Lourd, co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency, will advise the President on how to expand the role of arts in society. She's also getting a new colleague: Vogue and Teen Vogue publisher Tom Florio is becoming SVP and publishing director at Conde Nast, adding Bon Appetit and Conde Nast Traveler to his portfolio, while Susan Plagemann, VP and Marie Claire publisher, will report to him as the new VP and publisher of Vogue starting Jan. 4. [WWD, WWD]
Vogue
>> Annie Leibovitz Talks Finances —Annie Leibovitz was on scene at the Women's Conference in Long Beach yesterday, chatting with Katie Couric about her financial travails: “I always let other people handle the finances. Those days are over. It was a good lesson. We are pulling ourselves out [of it].” She is about to photograph Justice Sonia Sotomayor for Vogue, and noted that she won't be retiring anytime soon: “I still have a few more years I have to work.” [WWD]
Candy Pratts Price Laid Off at Style.com; More Conde Cuts Coming Today
>> It's been almost two weeks of rolling layoffs at Conde Nast — including at Vogue and W — which have mostly been done without releasing names, but now comes news that Style.com has let go two contributors: executive fashion director Candy Pratts Price, who Anna Wintour last year dubbed "Queen of the Internet," and senior features editor Laird Borrelli-Persson.
Pratts Price's Style.com contract will not be renewed after it ends in Spring 2010, though she will remain listed as a contributing editor at Vogue, where she is rumored to have spent as much time as she did at Style.com's offices. She will likely make the magazine and its counterpart her primary outlet after her Style.com contract ends; Borrelli-Persson, meanwhile, is expected to remain at Style.com through the end of the year. The layoffs may have to do with Style.com being folded into the new-and-improved Vogue.com, although there has been no confirmation of that possibility.
Unfortunately, these cuts aren't the last at Conde Nast — word is, more are coming today.
>> Vogue Lays Off At Least Six —It was rumored yesterday that Vogue had let some staffers go on the business side, but now comes news that at least six staffers were let go today. No names or positions were released, but Conde Nast spokeswoman Maurie Perl issued the following statement: "We announced last week when we closed the four titles that there would be companywide expense cost reductions and some workforce reductions in association with the 2010 budget process. These Vogue layoffs are part of that and we have no further comment on the subject." [MediaMemo]
>> W, Vogue Budget Cut Updates —Although it was rumored last week that W might be going bimonthly, the magazine's chairman and editorial director Patrick McCarthy says the cut in frequency won't be happening. Vogue, however, has supposedly started undergoing staffing cuts — on the business side. [The Cut, @FashionInformer]
Irving Penn, One of Fashion's Most Influential Photographers, Dead at 92
>> Irving Penn, one of the fashion industry's most influential photographers, died this morning at his home in Manhattan, according to a friend. He was 92.
Penn started out in 1937 as an unpaid design assistant at Harper's Bazaar, but it wasn't until he was hired as assistant to Vogue's art director Alexander Liberman in 1943 that his career started taking off. His first assignment involved designing Vogue's covers: He sketched out several designs, but none of the staff photographers would oblige, so at Liberman's behest, he photographed them himself. His very first color photograph for Vogue, a still life of a gloves, belt and pocketbook, became a cover — October 1, 1943. His photographs appeared on over 150 Vogue covers over the next 50 years.
His perfectionism comes through in his work — Liberman related a story of when Penn was asked to take a picture of glasses falling from a serving tray. He apparently insisted that Baccarat crystal be used for authenticity's sake, and went through several dozen shattered glasses before the final picture met his standards.
In 1947, Penn was asked to make a group portrait of the twelve most photographed beauties of that era. At that session, he met Lisa Fonssagrives, a few years older than he and credited by some as the first supermodel. They fell in love and were married in 1950. The two collaborated together, producing what become some of Penn's most memorable pictures — including “Rochas ‘Mermaid Dress,’ Paris” and “Woman with Roses, Paris” — on his first assignment to photograph the Paris collections for Vogue. "I didn't know Balenciaga from a baseball player," Penn told Vogue in 2007. "But she was a real pro. And she was not offensive about teaching me." Their marriage lasted 42 years, until she passed away at 80 in 1992.
>> Anna Wintour Left Paris Fashion Week Early —Anna Wintour reportedly left Paris days ago — she was last seen at Dior on Friday — presumedly to deal with how she's going to cut Vogue's budget by 25 percent for 2010. Her plan must be completed in the next two days so changes can be implemented quickly — layoffs (if that is how she chooses to rebudget) may be announced as early as Friday. [FWD, FWD]
Teen Vogue Said to Be Making 25 Percent Budget Cuts, Some Editors Already Moving On
>> McKinsey is in its second-to-last week of its three-month examination of the workings of Conde Nast, and the New York Observer reports that in the last few days, Conde executives, under the direction of McKinsey, asked a number of magazines — of which Teen Vogue is believed to be among — to cut their budget next year by roughly 25 percent. It's unclear if Vogue or W will be similarly instructed.
According to sources, top brass is not being specific about how the cuts should be made, but potential options could be diminishing expenses, doing away with freelance, reducing magazine frequency, or layoffs. Conde CEO Chuck Townsend told the Observer a few weeks ago: “I can boil what I say to editors and publishers down to the simplest statement in the world and that is: You, not me, you have a responsibility to run this business in a responsible way. It’s your responsibility. I want to see your proposal of how you’re going to do it.”
>> Vogue Cover Possibility for Rachel McAdams? — Is an upcoming Vogue cover — perhaps the January 2010 cover — in order for Rachel McAdams? She sat next to Anna Wintour at Alexander Wang today, then between Sally Singer and Virginia Smith at Altuzarra before heading to Boy/Band of Outsiders. Her next big movie, Sherlock Holmes, comes out Dec. 25, so a January 2010 cover would be right if it's in the cards . . .
First Details on "American Woman"-Themed 2010 Costume Institute Gala: Oprah and Gap's Patrick Robinson Co-Hosting
>> Rumors of slashed budgets and diminished celebrity attendance have already plagued the 2010 Costume Institute Gala for months, but we've finally got some concrete details about the first Met Ball that recently-appointed Vogue director of special events Sylvana Soto-Ward will spearhead. Themed "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity," the gala will take place on Monday, May 3, 2010, with Gap's Patrick Robinson and Oprah Winfrey co-hosting alongside Anna Wintour.
The theme is already drawing questions of whether Michelle Obama will make an appearance, but for sure populating the exhibit are roughly 75 outfits, culled based on the idea of "how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation." The pieces include designs by Coco Chanel, Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, Madeleine Vionnet, Madame Gres, and Paul Poiret and come exclusively from the new Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection; many haven't been on view to the public in over 30 years.
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