Front Row: Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief

383 Pages·2005·1.94 MB·English

by  Jerry Oppenheimer

Front Row
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Front Row
Anna Wintour
The Cool Life and Hot Times of
Vogue’s Editor in Chief
Jerry Oppenheimer
St. Martin’s Press
New York
FRONT ROW. Copyright © 2005 by Jerry Oppenheimer. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States
of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information,
address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Frontispiece photo of Anna Wintour by Corbis.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oppenheimer, Jerry.
Front row : Anna Wintour, the cool life and hot times of Vogue’s editor in chief /
Jerry Oppenheimer.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 361) and index (p. 365).
ISBN 0-312-32310-7
EAN 9780312-32310-3
1. Wintour, Anna, 1949– 2. Periodical editors—Great Britain—Biography.
3. Fashion editors—Great Britain—Biography. 4. Vogue. I. Title: Anna Wintour, the cool life and hot times
of Vogue’s editor in chief. II. Title.
PN5123.W585O66 2005
070.5'1'092—dc22
[B] 2004051313
First Edition: February 2005
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Caroline, Cukes, and Trix
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
one: Family Roots
two: A Teenage Bond
three: Swinging London
four: A Growing Independence
five: London Party Girl
six: Shopgirl Dropout
seven: Finding Love at Harrods
eight: Live-in Model
nine: Making the Masthead
ten: Family Affairs
eleven: Creative Energy
twelve: Meeting Mr. Wrong
thirteen: Playing Hardball
fourteen: Axed American Style
fifteen: A Curious Betrayal
sixteen: An Embarrassing Position
seventeen: Complex Persona
eighteen: Out in the Cold
nineteen: The Chanel Affair
twenty: A Savvy Decision
twenty-one: New York by Storm
twenty-two: A Territorial Grab
twenty-three: Mister Big
twenty-four: In Vogue
twenty-five: Golden Handcuffs
twenty-six: Marriage Made in Heaven
twenty-seven: Baby Makes Three
twenty-eight: Anna’s Guillotine
twenty-nine: Lover, Friend, Mother
thirty: Beginning of the End
thirty-one: The Parking Lot
thirty-two: July Fourth Massacre
thirty-three: Anna and the Boss
thirty-four: Madonna, Di, and Tina
thirty-five: The Assistant
thirty-six: Fashion Battlefield
thirty-seven: The Party’s Over
thirty-eight: An Affair to Remember
thirty-nine: A New Life
Selected Bibliography
Author’s Note on Sources
Index
Acknowledgments
S
ome two hundred people on three continents who have known Vogue editor in
chief Anna Wintour—present and former friends, lovers, colleagues, employees,
and associates—agreed to be interviewed for this book. Others kindly opened
doors for me, steered me in the right direction, or agreed to verify or back up
controversial facts and anecdotes.
The writing of a book such as this is a collaborative effort, and I could not
have succeeded, inasmuch as I did, without their candid insights, observations,
and critical assessments.
Wintour, the daughter of a prominent British journalist, refused to be
interviewed for this book and declined in any way to help. Moreover, she
instructed others not to cooperate. Some abided by her directive, others didn’t.
Wintour’s response was odd, since over the years she has offered up
numerous, though mostly self-serving, interviews and even permitted a British
television crew to follow her, in a limited way, for a documentary. At the same
time she has been quoted as saying she resents the press. It was clear she did not
want a book over which she had no control written about her life.
Most everyone I contacted agreed to talk on the record and without any ground
rules. A minority, for personal, professional, or financial reasons—their
livelihoods depend on Wintour—requested and were granted anonymity. Not
everyone was willing to put his or her career on the line, or to jeopardize
relationships. You know who you are.
My goal from the beginning was to portray Wintour in the truest and most
objective light, and I believe my sources aided me in fulfilling that end. I’d like
to offer my heartfelt thanks to all those who took the time to answer my many
questions:
Patti Gilkyson Agnew, Shig Akida, Moriah Allen, Judy Bachrach, Curt Bass,
Julie Baumgold, Dianne Benson, Frances Bentley, A. Scott Berg, Robin
Blackburn, Chris Blackwell, Andrea Blanche, Peter Bloch, Isabella Blow,
Stephen Bobroff, Patricia Bosworth, Sheila Botein, Catherine Jay Boyd, Jimmy