CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 2:14
A Day in Anna Wintour's Life and Her Reach
David Senra opens with an excerpt from Amy Odell's biography describing Anna's rigid daily routine, her constant demands on assistants, and her power over designers. He explains how she expanded the influence of the Vogue editor role.
- •Anna rises at 5:00 AM, exercises, and has hair and makeup before work
- •Her assistants receive constant requests by email with no subject line
- •She recommends designers to bigger labels and funds young talent through the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
- •She controls details down to the food at the Met Gala
- 2:14 – 5:04
The Financial Times Lunch: Overview of Anna's Career and Control
Senra turns to a Lunch with the FT interview as an overview of Anna. It covers her 35 years at Vogue, her role as global chief content officer, and her firing and replacing of editors in 2020. The interviewer's intern memory of a hushed office sets up a tangent.
- •Her tagline would be "I just have to make sure things are being done right"
- •She oversees all Condé Nast magazines except The New Yorker
- •The interviewer describes deference akin to that given to royalty
- •She fired and replaced editors so everyone felt it was a different day
- 5:04 – 5:35
Kobe, Jordan and the Folly of Deference
Prompted by an intern being told never to make eye contact with Anna, Senra tells the story of Kobe Bryant standing up to Michael Jordan. He argues that being overly deferential to powerful people is poor advice.
- •An intern was warned never to make eye contact with Wintour
- •Kobe was told not to look Jordan in the eye and ignored the advice
- •Kobe trash-talked Jordan back at age 21
- •Jordan respected him for it, and it became the foundation of a big-brother relationship
- 5:35 – 12:06
Early Career Path and the Rise to British Vogue
The FT interview continues with Anna's London upbringing, her father's suggestion that she aim to edit Vogue, and her early jobs. It follows her move to New York and Alexander Liberman's invented creative director role at Vogue, then her firing of British Vogue staff and the Ice Queen label.
- •Her father, nicknamed Chilly Charlie, told her to write editor of Vogue on a career form
- •She left school at 16 and worked at Biba, Harrods and Harper & Queen
- •Liberman created a creative director job for her, to Grace Mirabella's alarm
- •Her meetings are two minutes long, and she wants people to be decisive and clear
- •She fired most of British Vogue's staff and was dubbed the Ice Queen
- 12:06 – 14:09
Return to New York and the Vogue 100
Anna returned to New York, took House & Garden, and then received the job her father had chosen when Mirabella was fired. The interview closes with Vogue's dependence on her, including the $100,000 Vogue 100 club, and her notorious control of details.
- •Staying in London was not viable with her husband in New York and two young children
- •Mirabella learned on TV that she was fired after 37 years at Vogue
- •Newhouse advised her to follow the money after the 1990 recession
- •The Vogue 100 charges $100,000 a year for access to Anna
- •She says she is not creative and just makes sure things are done right
- 14:09 – 17:42
Her Father, Mother and Inherited Traits
Returning to the biography, Senra covers the influence of Anna's father and mother. The traits include voracious reading, a strict schedule, rapid decisions, and a frightening presence. He compares them to Steve Jobs and to the terse-memo tradition of David Ogilvy.
- •Anna rarely discussed her mother despite their closeness, while her ambition stemmed from her father
- •Her father was quiet, cold and exacting, and offered staff single-word praise like "Excellent"
- •Her mother Noni was bright, witty and critical
- •Senra links the brevity to Ogilvy's "dogmatism of brevity" and the terse memo
- •People fleeing elevators to avoid her recalls Steve Jobs
- 17:42 – 22:14
A Disciplined Teenager with a Singular Mission
Senra describes Anna's teenage discipline: diet, fashion confidence, and clubbing for reconnaissance rather than fun. He covers the career form conversation with her father and the lunch with Barbara Griggs, where she wanted only information.
- •She adopted a strict low-carb regimen in 1964
- •She drank Shirley Temples and left clubs after an hour to study the fashionable crowd
- •Her father told her to write editor of Vogue as her career objective
- •She wanted information from Barbara Griggs, not career guidance
- •Senra sees a founder mentality in her
- 22:14 – 27:47
Learning on the Job: Perfectionism, Confidence and Focus
At Harper's & Queen Anna learned everything on the job, and her perfectionism and confidence made others follow her. Senra ties this to belief coming before ability, her view of social events as work, and her move to New York as the center of the universe.
- •She learned to choose clothes, talent, layouts and captions with ignorance but belief
- •She insisted borrowed clothes be returned in pristine condition
- •She was always the first to leave parties because she had to work in the morning
- •She wanted to be in charge rather than do shoots in the field
- •Senra links her to a Coco Chanel quote about being there to make a fortune
- 27:47 – 33:52
Getting Fired and Climbing Through Viva and New York Magazine
Anna was fired and reflects on being too European and obstinate. She then built a reputation at Viva and New York Magazine through decisiveness, high standards and killing stories, which led to her meeting with Mirabella and her answer of "Yours."
- •Anna says she was fired for being obstinate and ignoring her editor's need for credit
- •Fittings moved at assembly-line speed and she often skipped shoots
- •Viva work caught Alexander Liberman's attention
- •At New York Magazine she brought her own white table and killed stories to set standards
- •Asked what job she wanted at Vogue, she told Mirabella "Yours"
- 33:52 – 40:06
Creative Director Under Mirabella and the Jobs Parallel
As creative director, Anna worked under Mirabella, whose long analytical meetings clashed with her decisive style. Senra compares this to Steve Jobs's clear approvals, then covers Mirabella's complaints, the move to British Vogue, and the Ice Queen label as a double standard.
- •Mirabella's clothing meetings lasted eight to 10 hours and she asked for "more"
- •Ken Kocienda describes Jobs's answers as easy to understand
- •Mirabella wrote that Anna went behind her back redoing layouts
- •Behavior described as tyrannical in Jobs is called bitchy in Anna
- •At British Vogue she demanded to see looks before shoots and reviewed every photo
- 40:06 – 48:00
Taking Over Vogue in 1988 and Expanding Her Power
Anna finally got Vogue in 1988 and ended hours-long run-throughs. Senra argues her key idea was extending the editor's power into leadership of the whole fashion industry, using the social scene, relationships and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.
- •Mirabella lacked a relationship with Si Newhouse and didn't know her own magazine's artists
- •Anna cut run-throughs to minutes and discouraged paperwork
- •Senra compares her time limits to Churchill's "It is slothful not to compress your thoughts"
- •She turned Vogue into a way to lead the whole fashion industry
- •The fashion fund builds loyal designers who credit her
- 48:00 – 55:12
Killing Shoots, AWOK and Passion: Anna and Steve Jobs
Anna killed expensive shoots to enforce standards, and staff sought her AWOK approval. Senra compares her respect for passion and focus on the work to Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, Jony Ive and Herb Kelleher, noting harshness is not a prerequisite for greatness.
- •She killed six-figure shoots to enforce excellence
- •AWOK became a verb for her approval
- •She respected passion and couldn't stand people who didn't care
- •Steve told Jony Ive he was vain for wanting people to like him instead of holding the work up as most important
- •Senra cites Rockefeller as proof that harshness isn't required, and Kelleher on liking stress
- 55:12 – 57:38
Her Father's Infidelity, Her Affair and Her Attraction to Power
Senra covers the pattern of Anna repeating her father's infidelity. Her father was a serial cheater whose affairs she discovered as a teenager, and she had an affair with Shelby that ended her marriage. Her ex-husband says she cannot empathize.
- •Her father's affairs hurt the family and the parents later divorced
- •She began an affair with Shelby while both were married, and it lasted about 15 years without marriage or living together
- •She admired powerful people, as with her reaction to Bill Gates
- •Her ex-husband David Shaffer says she is not capable of empathy
- 57:38 – 1:03:45
The Met Gala and the Vogue Fashion Fund as Industry Assets
Senra explains the Met Gala as a controlled business-networking asset and the fashion fund as a way of building loyalty and mentorship. The Band of Outsiders story shows her advice working when followed.
- •Anna controls the Met Gala guest list, table buyers and seating so business deals can happen
- •The fund brings 10 finalists a year into the Vogue family
- •She tells designers quality is the best strategy and relationships outlast money
- •Investors call her to ask which labels to back
- •Band of Outsiders ignored her advice to roll racks into unfinished space, and the founder called it a death knell
- 1:03:45 – 1:05:51
The Devil Wears Prada Effect and Closing Recommendations
Senra ends with the effect of The Devil Wears Prada, which made Anna a mainstream celebrity and even bigger than Vogue. He closes with recommendations of a second Anna biography, The September Issue, and the 73 Questions videos.
- •Her daughter Bee told her "Mom, they really got you" after a private screening
- •The movie made her a mainstream celebrity, and Condé Nast could hardly let her go
- •She began wanting to run Vogue and became bigger than Vogue
- •Senra recommends Jerry Oppenheimer's Front Row, The September Issue and the 73 Questions videos
