Wintour, Anna

(1949- )

   Born to a prominent British newspaper editor of the Evening Standard and an American heiress, Wintour was educated at the prestigious North London Collegiate School. Foregoing college for the swinging world of London in the 1960s, she held several jobs ranging from a sales position at the trendy shop Biba to a short stint at a British ladies magazine. before moving to New York in 1975. There she worked as a junior fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar, an editor at Viva magazine, and in 1980 as a freelance fashion editor for Savvy magazine. In 1981, Wintour moved to New York magazine, in charge of the fashion and home décor pages. In 1984, she married David Shaeffer, a child psychiatrist. Wintour returned to London in 1986 to become editor-in-chief of British Vogue and, in 1987, went back to New York to run House & Garden. In 1988, S.I. Newhouse was eager to replace the Vogue editor at the time, Grace Mirabella, with a younger, hipper, more modern-thinking editor and Wintour was selected.

   Wintour transformed the magazine within the first few years with her mantra of "Mass with Class" and became the single most influential person in the fashion industry. She made stars of Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, Proenza Schouler, and Alexander McQueen, to name a few, as well as bolstering the careers of numerous models and fashion photographers. She was one of the first to place celebrities on the cover, as well as a first lady (Hillary Clinton). Wintour's famous Louise Brooks bob hairdo (which she has donned since age fifteen), her signature wearing of sunglasses, and her infamous icy demeanor have been the subject of books and a movie, including The Devil Wears Prada and Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue s Editor-in-Chief. Her philanthropy included initiating the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fund, which promoted new, unknown fashion designers with seed money; contributions as a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and her work in training women to run beauty salons in Afghanistan. Wintour has been the target of animal rights organizations for endorsing fur yet remains firm on her position that people have the right to wear what they want. She is the mother of two children and has been married twice.