Fashion's Most Powerful Woman

I’ll be honest; I had never heard of Anna Wintour before, until I watched the 2004 documentary titled The September issue, which followed Vogue magazine’s biggest issue published in September each year. Inevitably, the coverage of this documentary included an exclusive sneak peek into the life of the most well respected (and feared) editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine – Anna Wintour

This pale skinned, small framed British lady looked very non-threatening to me, but once the documentary dived into the day-to-day events that led up to the publishing  of Vogue’s September issue, I saw a glimpse of what’s been written about this so called “ice queen”.  One has to understand that in the world of fashion; Vogue magazine is at the epicentre of it all, which makes Anna a ‘god’. One of the interviewees metaphorically described the fashion industry as a “religion”, with Vogue magazine as its Bible and Anna the high priestess. She’s a direct spoken woman, who on the outside seems very unassuming. She’s well-dressed of course, with her very meticulously styled hair, but I noticed by the way people interacted with her, that she has an aura about her – that you’ll naturally not mess with her – so the movie (apparently based on her) the Devil Wears Prada might not be an exaggeration from the truth? 

Anna’s influence in the fashion industry is undeniable, possibly unprecedented for a person who actually doesn’t design or make clothes. She gets to see top designer collections before anyone else, she works with the best of the best designers (Oscar de la Rente, Jean Paul Gutier, Versace etc), and her opinion is of such heavy influence that some designers are said to implement any changes she suggests.

 She is a perfectionist. When you work for a perfectionist your work has to be above par – all the time. That was clear as daylight to me, because in the documentary her staff were always busy, stressed and constantly on their toes. She’s supposedly the fur queen, and so naturally PETA isn’t a big fan of hers (or Kim K’s ), but when she attends fashion events or the like, and there are protesters outside raging in anger while hurling insults at her, one thing seemed apparent – she does not care. She is very unapologetic about her right to wear fur.

Anna Wintour inescapably  influences what will be in fashion, what will be worn as a trend, what women in Hollywood to high society women and to women who buy vogue will be wearing, she even influences what fashion retailers will be stocking and selling! That is power. Her influence extends to the world of politics as she is known to host very successful fundraising events for politicians (Barack Obama). The rumour mill is also a-buzz that President Barack Obama is considering this Editor-in-chief for the role of US Ambassador to Britain. Whether it’s true or not; it’s hard to deny that Anna Wintour is a publishing genius and an excellent business woman. 

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