Former British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman has offered insight from her tenure as head of the legendary fashion magazine, following the news that Edward Enninful has dramatically stepped down from the same role after just six years.
It was announced on Friday (2 June) that Enninful will step down as editor-in-chief of British Vogue and will instead take on a new role at Conde Nast, as global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue.
Shulman, who held the top job from 1992 to 2017, was the longest-serving editor in the history of the publication, and was succeeded by Enninful upon her departure.
Enninful became the first Black gay man to take the role of editor-in-chief and was described as an “influential figure in the communities of fashion, Hollywood and music which shape the cultural zeitgeist” at the time.
Writing in The Mail Plus, Shulman claimed that despite Enninful’s “international influence”, he was “ultimately always playing second fiddle to Anna Wintour” within the company.
“He leaves amid an avalanche of rumours of rifts with Wintour,” she wrote. “But whether they are true or not, the announcement that he will be replaced by an ‘editorial content director’, reporting to a multi-step ladder ending in the New York office, delivers a death knell to all that I treasured about the job.”
Shulman wrote that she was “surprised” that Enninful was interested in her former job, given he was “one of the top stylists in the fashion world” and questioned why he would “want to give that up for the grind of being an editor”.
She recalled experiencing “sadness and frustration” upon Enninful’s assumption of the role and said he “positioned himself and his vision by portraying my tenure at Vogue as if it were a crucible of white privilege”.
“But in the intervening years I have learnt this sort of thing can happen,” Shulman added.
Shulman’s comments come after a source told The Sunday Times that Enninful harboured ambitions of becoming editor of US Vogue, which led to a rumoured rift between him and Wintour. They were quoted as saying: “He did not believe he would have to play second fiddle for much longer to a seventysomething woman.”
Another source told the newspaper: “Edward shot for the moon and lost, and so will go back to his first love, which is being a stylist.”
Under Enninful’s leadership, British Vogue made strides towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive publication by putting plus-size and disabled models and activists on the cover and within its pages. Recently, he helmed the magazine’s first braille editions for blind and partially sighted people.
In 2019, he oversaw the Duchess of Sussex’s stint as guest editor for the September issue of the magazine that year. Meghan Markle’s cover featured 15 women she admires, hailing from the worlds of activism, politics, sports, Hollywood and beyond.
In an internal memo to staff, reported by Vogue Business, Enninful confirmed that he would step into an “editorial advisor” role in 2024.
“I am excited to share that from next year I will be stepping into the newly appointed position of editorial advisor of British Vogue and global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue, where I will continue to contribute to the creative and cultural success of the Vogue brand globally while having the freedom to take on broader creative projects,” he said.
“For now everything remains the same, and I’m so excited about what the future holds for us. I would like to thank Roger [Lynch] and Anna [Wintour] for their continued support.”
The Independent has contacted representatives for Enninful and Wintour for comment.
