Vogue’s new editorial chief made it clear she does not want to be intimidating like her predecessor.
Chloé Malle, 40, made clear in a joint New York Times interview with her predecessor Anna Wintour that she has no interest in inheriting the fashion icon’s famously chilly reputation.
“I don’t want the fact that I may be editing Vogue to mean I’m someone who’s intimidating to talk to at kindergarten drop-off that’s just not who I am,” Malle said as she sat next to Wintour, 70, one of the most powerful women in publishing, whose position she took over last year.
Malle, who has described herself as a “proud nepo baby” because she is the daughter of Murphy Brown actress Candice Bergen and My Dinner With Andre director Louis Malle, was named Head of Editorial Content at Vogue U.S. in September after 14 years at the company, taking over Wintour’s role, which she had held since 1988.
“I am so excited to continue working with her, as her mentor but also as her student,” Wintour said in a statement announcing Malle’s position, emphasizing what she had told staffers when making her “pivotal” decision: that she would remain the most powerful person at Vogue, as she continues to serve as Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast, Vogue’s parent company, and Global Editorial Director for the magazine.
“I know that some people who were interested in this job were sort of daunted by the idea of Anna being down the hall,” Malle told the New York Times, after Wintour made it clear that she would not be moving offices or “a single piece” of her “Clarice Cliff pottery.”
Yet Malle—who told Into The Gloss in 2014 that she was “hesitant” when she first interviewed for a position at Vogue because fashion was not one of her “main interests in life”—emphasized that she was “very happy” Wintour would be “down the hall” from her, despite their apparent differences in character.
The British-born former editor-in-chief, known for her bob haircut, sunglasses, and icy demeanor, had her famously demanding character highlighted by The Devil Wears Prada, a book written by her former assistant Lauren Weisberger, and its highly successful film adaptation, which Wintour said “was a fair shot” at depicting her personality.
During her tenure, Wintour faced criticism for the magazine’s elitist approach. Notable examples include telling Oprah Winfrey, 72, to “lose a little bit of weight” before appearing on the cover, criticizing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for not appearing in Vogue out of fear of looking too feminine, and, according to a feature writer, replacing a stewardess with a “high-flying businesswoman who’d had cancer” in a breast cancer story.
“Chloé is her own person,” Wintour said in their joint interview, adding that they did not want anyone “AW-lite in any way” to replace her, a point Malle echoed in her September interview with The New York Times, when she acknowledged that anyone trying to produce an “Anna-lite” version of the magazine would “not succeed.”
The difference is immediately visible in their offices: Malle’s is allegedly decorated with Lego models of Disney villains assembled by her son, one of two children she has with her husband Graham McGrath Albert, while Wintour’s famed Clarice Cliff pottery ranges in price from $100 to over $10,000.
“We’ve been building in my house a 3,700-piece Lego of the Daily Bugle newspaper office, and it’s been very exciting to me because now my son thinks that superheroes work in print media,” Malle told the Times.
Since starting in her new position, Malle has already taken steps to reduce the number of print issues of the magazine while making each one higher quality so they can serve as collectibles.
The new editor described how she was pulled into her office while working on the March issue, when Wintour asked, “Where are the weird dogs?”—referring to an idea Malle had as editor of Vogue.com to hold a competition for dogs to appear on the cover of Dogue.
“It was very liberating for me because I do feel the pressure of carrying on this enormous legacy,” Malle said.
Although Wintour emphasized that “people should get over comparisons and look at people as individuals,” the interview’s final question highlighted a key difference between the two women: nerves.
When The Times reporter Jessica Testa asked when they were last nervous, Malle replied, “About 30 minutes ago before this interview.” Wintour remained icy cool, stating, “I don’t get nervous.”
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