Anna Wintour has become the most powerful woman in fashion publishing

It has been a complicated year for Condé Nast, amid the economic problems triggered by the lockdown and the controversy raised by the BLM movement. A year so complicated, in fact, that many had wondered if it would also mark the end of the reign of Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue America, one of the most powerful personalities in the fashion world and therefore one of the most controversial. But the company's recent restructuring has erased any doubts on Wintour's fate, who yesterday was named Chief Content Officer of all Condé Nast magazines, as well as Vogue's Global Editorial Director - all in addition to her previous role. A move that made her, presumably, the most powerful woman in all fashion publishing. 

Condé Nast is, along with Hearst Magazines, one of the largest international publishers, as well as Vogue, with its 21 different national editions, also owns magazines such as W, Glamour, Marie Claire, GQ, Wired, Architectural Digest, WWD, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker (although the latter will retain its relative independence from Wintour). The decision to put the reins of this extraordinary portfolio in Wintour's hands is certainly dictated by her undoubted managerial ability but also raises some doubts about the overpowering power she has. After guiding Vogue for 32 years, in fact, many commentators had expressed a desire to see a generational change at the helm of the magazine. But the truth is that replacing Wintour at a time of such great uncertainty for the fashion magazine world would be an overly risky move for an unstable year like 2020. 

Along with hers, there are also other promotions in Condé Nast: Edward Enninful, the famous editor-in-chief of British Vogue, has been appointed European Editorial Director – which explains the exodus of editorial managers such as Christiane Arp and Eugenia de la Torriente, respectively editor-in-chief of Vogue Germany and Spain, the editorial director of Condé Nast, Luca Dini, and the Italian CEO Fedele Usai. Italian Simone Marchetti has been promoted to European Editorial Director of Vanity Fair while Will Welch, Divia Thani and Amy Astley are the new global directors of GQ, Condè Nast Traveller and AD respectively.