Some of the biggest names from fashion and Hollywood will descend on the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the West End on Thursday night for an event that is being hailed as London’s answer to the Met Gala.
Vogue World, described as “a multi-act celebration of the British performing arts”, has been contrived by Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, as a way of raising vital funds for London’s struggling arts scene.
The hour-long evening event is set to feature a catwalk show and live performances overseen by the Billy Elliot director, Stephen Daldry, with a lineup including Kate Moss, Stormzy, Idris Elba and Michaela Coel.
However, this isn’t just another starry fundraiser.
With rumours of a behind-the-scenes power struggle between Wintour and the outgoing British Vogue editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, the event has become a prime opportunity for Wintour to reaffirm herself as the most puissant person in fashion.
While Vogue World is publicly being credited as a show “jointly headed up” by the duo, insiders say it’s very much “Wintour’s baby”.
“This is Anna giving two fingers up to everyone who thought she was over,” says one former staffer who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s all about asserting her power. She’s no fool.”
While the editor-in-chief of Vogue has historically always been a leader in fashion, since her appointment in 1988, Wintour has consistently worked to expand this power often beyond the remits of the $1.7tn industry.
Her close contacts now span entertainment, sport and politics. She has hosted fundraisers for Democrats including Obama, is said to be a close confidante and former adviser to tennis star Serena Williams while in 2014, the New York Metropolitan Museum renamed its costume department the “Anna Wintour Costume Institute.”.
Vogue World is a prospect to showcase not so much her little but gargantuan black book of contacts.
The designer Michael Kors is said to have, on her request, moved his New York fashion week show from Thursday to Monday to ensure models including Irina Shayk and Ashley Graham could partake in Wintour’s own “runway extravaganza.”. Meanwhile, a promotional video for the event features the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, the Spice Girl turned designer Victoria Beckham, members of the Rambert Dance Company, the supermodel Naomi Campbell and Sir Ian McKellen.
Ever since Enninful took over British Vogue’s editor-in-chief role from Alexandra Shulman in 2017, he has been touted as Wintour’s replacement, with insiders at Condé Nast describing him the only “real threat” to her power.
However, earlier this year a rift is said to have broken out over Enninful’s attempts to overhaul the 130-year-old publication, including an attempt to make it genderless.
In June, he announced somewhat unexpectedly that he was stepping down from his role and instead accepting a new global position at Condé Nast, which gave him the “freedom to take on broader creative projects.”.
Initially, it was regarded as a pivot to further posit himself as Wintour’s successor.
However, that narrative has now changed. Some describe Enninful’s new role as less of a promotion and more of a means of being “fired upwards”.
In December 2020, Wintour was named Condé Nast’s worldwide chief content officer, overseeing all content at the company, except the New Yorker, in addition to setting the strategy for Vogue as its global editorial director.
Shulman has claimed that despite Enninful’s “international influence”, he was “ultimately always playing second fiddle to Anna Wintour”.
Enninful’s replacement will now be addressed as head of editorial content, rather than editor-in-chief. Denizens of Condé Nast suggest the frontrunner for the role is the London-born Chioma Nnadi, who currently resides in New York and heads up the digital arm of American Vogue, a position Wintour promoted her to in 2020.
“Sources told me that Enninful seemed to expect Anna to have moved on by 2023, but of course she hasn’t,” says Amy Odell, the author of Anna: The Biography.
“I was also told that Roger Lynch [the chief executive of Condé Nast] felt more comfortable with her leading Vogue, because Edward’s vision is seen as too niche for a global brand. Anna has built up these successes and her reputation over a remarkably long time.”
Enninful, the first man and black person to hold an editor-in-chief title at British Vogue, has been widely praised for pushing boundaries at the glossy including choosing cover stars such as the actor Laverne Cox who is transgender and in June a vanguard of disabled talent. However, as he approaches his leaving date some see Vogue World as a final publicity coup from Wintour.
“She has an insatiable drive to build up the brand,” says another former staffer. “Even when the industry has been in turmoil, Anna has been able to harness even more power, safeguard her position and grow her influence.”
Insiders now say tensions are at an all-time high at Vogue House. Instead of relinquishing power, Wintour’s grip on the British brand is tightening, with her American team working closely with the London-based team and Zoom calls scheduled for all hours of the day and night.
“Anna has a remarkable way of coming out on top,” Odell says. “She has laid the groundwork for her position at the top of the pyramid for so long. And has ensured that her Vogue is the beating heart of the whole thing.”
