Lynn Barber

Is Anna Wintour human?

It’s up at 5 a.m. for a workout, half an hour for hair and make-up, and then back-to-back office meetings – with no banter

Anna Wintour and Mario Testino in the 2009 documentary The September Issue. [© Roadside Attractions/ Courtesy Everett Collection/Alamy] 
issue 21 May 2022

Apparently Anna Wintour wants to be seen as human, and Amy Odell’s biography goes some way to helping her achieve that aim. Nearly all the photographs show her smiling, looking friendly, even girlish. And the text quite often mentions her crying. On 9 November 2016 she cried in front of her entire staff because Hillary Clinton lost the election. But then she immediately set about trying to persuade Melania Trump to do a Vogue shoot. Melania, another tough cookie, refused unless she was guaranteed the cover.

Dame Anna has been the editor of American Vogue since 1988 and holds a position of extraordinary power in the fashion world. Designers, photographers, models and celebs tremble to obey her whim. At 72, she now seems impregnable, in that she is the creative director of all Condé Nast magazines, from Vogue down to Golf Digest and Wired. But of course this is a print empire, which means she could be the last empress.

She cried when Hillary Clinton lost the election – and immediately set about wooing Melania Trump

We know Wintour best from The Devil Wears Prada, the 2006 film based on a novel by her former assistant Lauren Weisberger.

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