Edward Enniful wants to make Vogue ‘genderless’, but will it pass Anna Wintour?

The rare smile that flashed across the face of legendary American Vogue editor Anna Wintour on Friday at Victoria Beckham’s fashion show in Paris was too remarkable to go unnoticed. That it was aimed at the man sitting just a few seats away, British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, was even more intriguing.

For while Ms. Wintour hoped the gesture would convey a sense of unity, behind the glossy pages of the fashion bible hides a growing froideur between the magazine’s grand dame and her former protégé, the first black and openly gay man to make it to the top. function.

Indeed, playing in the shadows is what one magazine insider described as “a struggle not just for the crown of Vogue, but for the heart and soul of the magazine itself.”

At the heart of it all is Enninful herself, driving the most radical and controversial changes in the magazine’s 130-year history: a bold attempt to make Vogue more diverse and even “genderless” — a departure from its traditional female foundation.

The latest decision to raise bushy eyebrows in style was the inclusion of Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet on the latest cover, making him British Vogue’s first male cover star. Enninful would love to bring in Ncuti Gatwa, the first black Doctor in Doctor Who and star of Netflix’s Sex Education, as its next cover star.

“He wants to appeal to everyone, not just women,” a source told The Mail on Sunday. For him, the future is a genderless, multicultural Vogue that appeals to everyone and excludes no one. Gay men have always bought the magazine, but he wants to attract everyone and reach an audience that traditionally wouldn’t buy a women’s fashion magazine.’

What that means for those loyal to Vogue’s female-led high fashion brand remains to be seen. As one observer put it: ‘At its core, Vogue stands for glamor and aspiration for women. If you stop it being a women’s magazine, you destroy its soul.’

But right now, there seems to be little that can slow down Enninful. Ever since the 50-year-old, who came to the UK from Ghana at the age of 13 and took the helm of British Vogue five years ago, there has been ongoing speculation that he is queuing up to take over Wintour’s job as editor-in-chief. head of American Vogue and Global Chief Content Officer of the magazine’s publisher, Conde Nast.

A source said: “There have been plenty of pretenders to the throne, but Edward considers himself her natural successor and he is the only person who appears to be a real threat.”

But even in the famous wasp-like fashion world, he’s been branded a “diva” and has earned himself the wonderfully catty nickname “Edward Enninfulofhimself.”

Also bitchily referred to as the ‘queen mother’, he is said to have a lot in common with his mentor. An American outlet has claimed it has ‘assistants’ [who] lead him through meetings and wear his glasses and eye drops and help put them on’.

His admirers say no one ever calls him the “queen mother” and that he needs eye drops because his eyesight is so bad it’s almost a disability.

Reports also suggest he waved off colleagues with simple requests by asking them to ‘call Darnell’ [his powerful agent, Darnell Strom].

And its differences from the formidable Wintour—whose famously demanding personality has earned her the nickname “Nuclear Wintour”—suggest he was made of stern material.

In the US, reports came out this week of the growing rift between the magazine empire’s two most influential editors, with several media outlets seemingly “briefed” on the lingering tensions.

“Anna Wintour’s Feud With Her Protege Is Turning Conde Nasty” read a headline in an article that claimed Enninful is “apparently on the hunt for the Iron Lady of Gloss’s plum job” and told his associates that he “believes he can do better.” then Wintour’ on top of the Vogue brand’.

The publication speculated that Wintour might try to “appease” Enninful, who has spent the past few weeks on a book tour promoting his memoir, A Visible Man, by maneuvering him into another coveted position, perhaps editing an alternative magazine in the Conde Nast stable, to protect her own job. “Anna is no fool, so people expect musical chairs to be coming soon,” said a source.

Tongues were wagging last month when Enninful was absent from a glamorous “Vogue World” event in New York, hosted by Wintour to showcase her vision for the magazine’s future.

A source said: ‘He had been all over New York promoting his memoir, so he was expected to be there. The fact that he flew to California on annual leave at the time is a source of constant chatter.”

The pair also kept their distance in Paris this week, despite the choreographed smile at Posh’s fashion show. Enninful holed up in the Crillon hotel with his friend, Tatler Editor Richard Dennen, while Wintour took her favorite suite at the Ritz.

Meanwhile, just as intriguingly, there are signs that Wintour appears to have taken a leaf from Enninful’s book in an effort to keep up with the times.

When he took over as editor of British Vogue in 2017, it marked a radical departure from the magazine’s previous editor, the highly respected Alexandra Shulman, who held the position for 25 years.

Enninful described the office as “too many old, white chic women.” Several senior female executives were immediately replaced by men and women of color, and with them a number of ‘young, cool and gay hipsters’. One of them is his protégé Alex Kessler, a fashion editor who lists his pronouns as he/him.

Not to be outdone, Wintour was prompted to look at her own empire, which was criticized for being “white-minded.” Certainly since then she has tried to promote diversity and once famously looked around at an editorial meeting and stated, “Why are there so many whites in the room?”

But if Wintour sees Enninful as a threat, her supporters won’t admit it. Last night someone said: ‘Everyone makes a point of Edward putting Timothée on the cover, but Anna put Harry Styles on the cover of American Vogue two years ago.

‘Anna is tough. She has survived three decades on top of her ability. She’s like the queen, she’ll die in that job. She will never hand it over voluntarily.

“Anna has always been very steadfast in her vision of what Vogue should be; a fashion bible for women.’

But it seems that Enninful is a man on a mission. He is also on a major charm offensive in the United States while promoting his book.

In a profile in the New York Times, he spoke of his lifelong struggle against racism and told the now infamous story of how a white security guard at Vogue’s London headquarters turned him away from the front door and told him to use the merchant’s entrance. .

Although the guard was fired, Enninful used the anecdote to illustrate the everyday racism he encounters, including having to ask a white employee to hail taxis for him.

The piece described Enninful Flowing as “at the forefront of a new cohort” that “yanked open the stale chintz curtains and displayed an aurora borealis of various races, sizes, ages and sexualities.”

He also quietly showed his star power by handing the author of the New York Times piece a list of friends that began, “Beyoncé. Rihanna. naomi. I’m a. Opra.’

A well-placed source predicts that Enninful will remain undaunted in pursuit of his goals. “In public, he and Anna show nothing but respect for each other, but there is no doubt that he is aiming for her crown,” the source said.

“She may have tried to move with the times, and kudos to her for trying, but she can’t change the fact that she’s an old white woman.”

Its value has been recognized within the company. Enninful now holds the titles of European Editorial Director of Vogue and Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue, giving him control over influential Vogue editions in Italy, France and Spain. And whatever he does, it works.

Although British Vogue’s readership is small (about eight million between print and digital compared to US Vogue’s 25 million, according to Conde Nast), British Vogue subscriptions grew by more than 14 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year. previous year.

As Enninful told the New York Times, “You can still have diversity and keep the quality high,” pointing to covers featuring Rihanna and Beyoncé and a special issue edited by the Duchess of Sussex.

He has also gained powerful allies, including Ronnie, wife of Conde Nast publisher Si Newhouse, who has known him since the 1990s when she was the creative director for Calvin Klein and he was the stylist for Kate Moss’ jeans campaign. Richard Dennen, clearly influenced by his colleague, now ensures that every other Tatler cover has a person of color.

As for Enninful, at least he remains diplomatic in public. When asked by the New York Times if he had “ambitions to run the Vogue mothership,” he replied, “I’m happy to work in Europe.

“But you never know what the future holds.”