After nearly 30 years at Vogue, Grace Coddington—a longtime, cherished magazine family member known for her star turn in The September Issue and her hatred of Instagram—is stepping down from her position as creative director of the fashion bible.
Business of Fashion reports that 74-year-old Coddington’s departure is “effective immediately” but that her ties to Vogue won’t be completely severed—instead, she’ll be designated with journalism’s ever-coveted “at large” title. Vogue is reportedly not looking to hire another creative director in her place.
A Vogue rep told BoF in a statement: “After more than 25 years at American Vogue, Grace Coddington will assume the role of creative director at large and take on additional projects outside the magazine. She will work on several Vogue fashion shoots throughout the year.”
Having signed with a new agency, Great Bowery, Coddington says she’ll now have time for her personal ventures (she’s working on a fragrance with Comme des Garçons). According to BoF:
The firm will focus on projects beyond Coddington’s styling work, from her “Catwalk Cats” illustration series — which may be turned into an animated film — to the aforementioned collaboration with Comme des Garçons.
“I really love Vogue, it’s been in my life always, they discovered me as a model at 19,” Coddington told BoF. “I’m not running away from Vogue, because it has opened so many doors. But it will be nice to collaborate, and nice to go out [and] give talks to people. It’s just another approach. I’m certainly not going into retirement. I don’t want to sit around.”
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