Anna Wintour biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Born on November 3, 1949, in London, England, to newspaper editor Charles Wintour and philanthropist Elinor Wintour, magazine editor Anna Wintour has become an international fashion icon in her role as editor-in-chief of the highly influential Vogue magazine. She is known for her oversized dark glasses, high heels, sharp bob hairstyle and icy demeanor.

Born into a family with considerable wealth, Wintour demonstrated a tendency to do things her own way at an early age. As a teenager, she made the decision to forgo academics, dropping out of her fancy finishing school and opting instead for a life that revolved around the tony London life of the 1960s that she so clearly adored. With her signature hairstyle—she first went to the bob at the age of 15 and has changed it very little since then—Wintour frequented the same London clubs of pop culture's biggest stars, including members of the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

The management style and drive that Wintour would later show as a magazine editor was in part inspired by her late father, a decorated World War II veteran who'd earned a tough, stern, and talented reputation as editor of the London Evening Standard. Wintour never shied away from the similarities she shared with the man known as "Chilly Charlie." "People respond well to people who are sure of what they want," Wintour told 60 Minutes in May 2009.

Early Editorial Career

Long before Vogue, however, Anna Wintour started out in the fashion department of Harper's & Queen in London. Over the years, she rose up the editorial ladder and bounced from publication to publication between New York and London. In 1976, she moved to New York and took over as fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar. Still in her 20s and still in New York, Wintour left Harper's for a job at Viva, a publication owned by the same outfit that managed Penthouse. There, Wintour essentially became the magazine's fashion department, cutting her teeth as a high-end editor and manager. Wintour spent generously on photographers and shoots, arranging for expensive trips to places like the Caribbean and Japan.

Following a brief stop at Savvy, where she served again as the magazine's fashion editor, Wintour took a job with New York magazine in 1981. From the start, Wintour displayed her own sense of style and direction, even going so far as to bring her own desk to her new office. It's look: "A contemporary Formica-topped affair on two metal sawhorses as legs...along with a high-tech chrome-framed chair with a seat and back made of bungee cords," wrote Jerry Oppenheimer, in his 2005 unauthorized biography of Wintour, Front Row.