André Leon Talley should feel vindicated.
In his new book The Chiffon Trenches, the fashion and former Vogue editor-at-large addressed his relationship with Anna Wintour, who he said left him with “psychological scars.” Not surprising, considering that even Wintour’s public persona is… not the most pleasant.
But this week, Wintour came under scrutiny once again after the Vogue editor-in-chief sent out an email to the magazine’s staff apologizing for not doing enough to elevate the work of Black creatives over the years, and for times in the past that the magazine published images or stories that were “hurtful or intolerant”. Not to point out the obvious, but Wintour has been in charge of Vogue and a fixture at Condé Nast for more than three decades—it’s not as if she hasn’t had the time or the power to address the publication’s racism. She simply chose not to.
On a recent podcast interview, Talley shared his thoughts on Wintour’s email.
“[Wintour’s] statement came out of the space of white privilege,” he said. “I want to say one thing, Dame Anna Wintour is a colonial broad, she’s a colonial dame, she comes from British, she’s part of an environment of colonialism. She is entitled and I do not think she will ever let anything get in the way of her white privilege.”
It’s no secret that Vogue has a serious issue when it comes to both covering Black celebrities and hiring Black creatives, and over the past week Black people and other people of color who formerly worked for publications owned by Condé Nast (Vogue’s parent company) have spoken out about the racist treatment they experienced while working for the company. Just take a minute to flip through the magazine’s pages and you won’t be surprised. After all, Vogue has been around for over a century and the first time a Black photographer shot the cover was in 2019 (and only because Beyoncé specifically chose the photographer herself, not because Vogue found and hired a Black photographer).
Talley also predicted that Wintour, 70, would be “impacted” by the hiring of Samira Nasr, the first female black editor of Harper’s Bazaar, who replaced fashion veteran Glenda Bailey.
“Clearly, that statement comes because this girl [Nasr] is going to run competition rings around her,” he said. “Her power base has been somewhat affected by the competition of this young African American who is going to be historically the first black female editor of a great, great magazine,” Talley continued.
The lack of diversity in the fashion world (and fashion journalism) has been a problem for many years, but the hiring of Nasr as the editor in chief of Harper’s Bazaar is a notable shift, and one that could spell trouble for Wintour and the culture at Vogue. On Monday, the editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit (another Condé Nast brand) resigned after a photo of him in brownface surfaced. Perhaps accountability is on the horizon. [Page Six]
After Chrissy Teigen got her breast implants removed, she woke up to this card from her daughter Luna, which reads: “Have fun punching your boobies out. Love Luna.”
Four-year-olds really do know how to paint a picture. [Page Six]