“Fashion is the art of embracing, but some changes run closer to one’s heart than the rest,” Anna Witnour told Vogue team members. In June, after 37 impactful years as the esteemed editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Wintour announced that she would be stepping down from her role.
After much anticipation, in September, the magazine announced that 40-year-old “Chloe Malle will be the next Head of Editorial Content for our US title, leading the American magazine and guiding its digital coverage.” Wintour noted that “when it came to hiring someone to edit American Vogue, letting me turn my attention more intensely to Vogue’s multifaceted growth across its global audiences and publications and events like the Met Gala and Vogue World, I knew I had one chance to get it right.”
Wintour has described Malle as the secret weapon of Vogue. Malle, who lives in New York with her two children, husband, and dog, originally started at Vogue in 2011 as the Social Editor. Since then, she has had a number of roles at the publication, including being a contributing editor from 2016 to 2023 and becoming the editor of Vogue.com in 2023.
Her effective work ethic and dedication are evident in the fact that direct traffic to the website has doubled since she took over this role. Additionally, Vogue’s wedding section has increased content output by 30%. Dogue, Vogue’s canine feature, the Vogue Vintage Guide, and “The Run-Through”, Vogue’s podcast, are all testaments to the visionary genius that is Malle. As Wintour put it, “Although she is no stranger to the glamour of red carpets, her talent has been for original thinking and hard work. Chloe has put in as many late nights as anybody at Condé Nast, all without losing her creative imagination or her sense of fun.”
Malle grew up in Los Angeles and New York prior to studying literature at Brown University. She is the daughter of actress Candice Bergen, who ironically played Vogue’s editor-in-chief on HBO’s Sex and the City. After the announcement of her promotion, Malle shared in an article with The New York Times, “There is no question that I have 100 percent benefited from the privilege I grew up in. It’s delusional to say otherwise. I will say, though, that it has always made me work much harder. It has been a goal for a lot of my life to prove that I’m more than Candice Bergen’s daughter, or someone who grew up in Beverly Hills.”
In the same interview, Malle said, “The truth is that no one’s going to replace Anna.” Wintour first became the editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 1977, and then the editor-in-chief of Vogue in 1988. Wintour’s first cover of November 1988 featured model Michaela Bercu in a haute couture Christian Lacroix jacket and Guess jeans. Bercu looked happy and authentic, a change from Vogue’s previous high-fashion, meticulously thought-out covers. This first cover allowed Wintour to pave the way for a newer, more modern Vogue.
Source: Vogue
By appointing Malle, Vogue is aiming to do the exact thing that Wintour did back in 1988. Malle’s official title is not editor-in-chief, but instead Head of Editorial Content, a new title that represents a new era of Vogue as the magazine advances into the digital world. In regard to how the magazine will receive this online traffic, Malle told The New York Times that she wants to create “a more direct, smaller, healthier audience.”
While Malle is a great inspiration to young people interested in media and fashion, Fieldston students have conflicting views on her. Sojourner Brown (Form IV) shared, “I’m not the biggest fan of hers. As a consumer who collects Vogue magazines, I don’t love the idea of the special editions instead of monthly publications. In addition, I don’t really feel like she is the fresh new voice that was promised. She hasn’t really done anything noteworthy to my knowledge, and I feel like I have greater expectations for the person filling Anna Wintour’s role.”
Pippa Barton (Form IV) said, “Although some may not agree, Chloe Malle brings a fresh, youthful perspective to Vogue that some staff may not be able to do. Combining with her deep knowledge of the magazine’s history, her newfound position will hopefully bring Vogue into a new era.”
