Dec 8th, 2016, 02:52 PM

The Sins and Salvation of Anna Wintour

By Nicole Hanley
Image Credit: Business Insider
If Vogue is the fashion bible, is Anna Wintour the fashion Messiah?

In an industry where name brands talk and diamonds are a form of currency, it is understandable that public relations efforts can easily become quite muddled. The fashion industry has never pretended to have a heart of gold; rather, it has always been more concerned with the gold embroidery in the latest Alexander McQueen collection. And Vogue - perhaps the strongest of the great pillars the industry has been built upon - isn't exactly a shining beacon of what we would call ethical behavior. 


Anna Wintour: Dripping in sequins and sarcasm. Image Credit: ThePlace2

This lack of awareness is clearly exemplified in Vogue style-editor-at-large Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis' laughably insensitive Instagram post, wherein she snapped a photo of a homeless woman in Paris reading a recent edition of Vogue. Elisabeth TNT (as she's been so affectionately nicknamed by the mag) captioned the photograph: "Paris is full of surprises... and @voguemagazine readers even in unexpected corners!" Considering TNT's status as both a Vogue elite and, well, a literal elite (she's a member of the German princely house of Thurn und Taxis), this message was received as more evil stepsister, less Cinderella. Although an apology was issued — eventually — the age old adage that Vogue and its glittery cronies are just plain out of touch reared its ugly head once again. The fact that Anna Wintour, the publication's high priestess, said nothing of the incident is indicative and entirely unsurprising. 


Image Credit: Radar Online

In fact, Wintour has turned her well-coifed head away from many a similar PR snafu. It was she who okayed Vogue's March 2011 profile on Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria, which painted the dictator's wife as "glamorous, young, and very chic - the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies". Embarrassingly, it was later revealed that the article was part of an elaborate public relations attempt to reconcile the Assad family's international name. While Wintour offered a mild apology and removed the article from Vogue's website, the author of the piece, Joan Juliet Buck (a seasoned Vogue vet herself with over 35 years of experience with the publication) was quietly let go. 


Vogue's profile of Asma al-Assad, entitled "A Rose in the Desert", focused on the first lady's glamorous lifestyle and largely ignored all political implications. Image Credit: Gawker. 

And lest we forget Wintour's infamous Vogue cover debacles. We have the photo-shopping scandals, some objective racism, and the piece-de-resistance: the notorious Kimye cover, featuring the King and Queen of the Media Underworld being touted as the next celebrity "it" couple. If Anna Wintour holds the keys to the pearly gates of fashion Heaven, it is clear that she unlocked the door to all of these brazen PR moves in one swift motion. I can't help but wonder: how, despite Wintour getting her Chanel knee-deep in scandal time and time again, does Vogue remain the most profitable and untouchable fashion magazine in the business? 


On the left: an original poster for the 1933 movie King Kong. On the right: LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen cover Vogue, April 2008. Image Credit: Huffington Post.

Could it be that Wintour, with her meticulously cropped bob, black shades, and unaffected stance, is both the mastermind behind these PR "fails" and the orchestrator of their redemption? It's no industry secret that "charismatic" and "warm" aren't the first words used to describe her; however, there are plenty of other adjectives that give justice to the enormity of her presence.

Put quite simply, Anna Wintour is cool. She's also sharp, and intelligent, and meticulous, traits made evident by the resilience and growth of the Vogue brand in a media environment where print publications are dropping like flies. Whether or not you want her to sing you a lullaby before you go to sleep is irrelevant. Her particular flavor of cool is packaged in exclusivity, and allows for the type of constant controversy that surrounds her magazine and her world. And in the same way designers nervously preview their collections just for her, fashion worshippers anxiously await the next issue of Vogue, eager to congregate at the alter of their idol. While lesser leaders might balk at the immense backlash Vogue receives, Wintour owns each and every decision, Venti Starbucks in hand. An anti-hero? To some, maybe. But to those who still look up to Vogue as the end-all of fashion, there is no sin so great that its legacy or its Queen can be so easily dethroned. In fact, its these very sins that make her and her magazine so wickedly addictive. What trend will she subvert next? Which group will she offend? Whose Met Gala ticket will be mysteriously lost, tossed out the window of an NYC cab? It is us, zealously clamoring to be a part of this cult, who validate her choices and praise her as the second coming. We subscribe to her authority. We bow down to her ideology.

Anna Wintour in her rightful place: front row during Paris Fashion Week. Image Credit: Organdii

Reminiscing on the now infamous Kimye cover with CNN, Wintour had the following to say:
"I see the role of Vogue to reflect what’s going on in the culture. The first celebrity that I put on the cover of Vogue was Madonna, and that was considered completely controversial at the time, too. It’s such a long time ago probably no one remembers, but she was a very controversial figure. Now she’s part of the establishment. I think if we just remain deeply tasteful and just put deeply tasteful people on the cover, it would be a rather boring magazine! Nobody would talk about us. It’s very important that people do talk about us."
 

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