Headlines about Anna Wintour spun out of control last week. What happened?

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Jun 30, 2025

If you happened upon my Instagram story somewhere in the early afternoon last Thursday, you might have witnessed me crashing out over headlines breaking the news that Anna Wintour was stepping away from her editor-in-chief role at Vogue.

But my concerns and frustrations were less about the development itself and far more about how many initial headlines were written. Within minutes, my TikTok and Instagram feeds were flooded with people — including fashion influencers — convinced Anna was retiring or leaving the magazine entirely.

The reality is far less sensational. Only a handful of outlets clarified in their headlines that Anna was retiring the title of editor-in-chief — not stepping down from power. She remains Global Editorial Director of Condé Nast (a position she already held, BTW), and still oversees editorial across ALL the world’s Vogues. There won’t be a new “editor-in-chief.” That title has been outdated and largely phased out across newsrooms for years.

“I won’t be moving offices — or a single piece of my Clarice Cliff pottery,” Anna told her staff Thursday morning, according to comments obtained by The New York Times.

So no, Anna is not stepping down or stepping back. If anything, she’s stepping maybe an inch to the right, making room for someone new to stand next to her in the long line of editors she oversees. American Vogue will now have a Head of Editorial Content, who will report to Anna, just like the other heads of content at Condé Nast (except The New Yorker. Things are never simple nor stagnant at Condé Nast).

So what the heck happened? How did this turn into a full-blown media spiral? I have a few theories.

First: Anna’s roles at Vogue — and within Condé Nast — are complicated and easily misinterpreted. She’s been American Vogue’s top editor, Global Editorial Director of all the Vogues, and Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast. She runs the Met Gala and Vogue World. Her power is vast and often hard to define. They certainly don’t fit cleanly into a byline on Vogue’s masthead.

Second: fashion media — and let’s face it, many of Vogue’s readers — have been all too eager for this moment. Only a few years at a time go by before (false) rumors start circling about her departure. Anna is 75 and has spent 37 years at the magazine. Her legacy is undeniable. She’s a deeply influential — and equally controversial — figure, and many have been waiting for her exit. It will be a world-shattering moment for fashion when it does happen. It just hasn’t, yet.

But here’s the biggest issue: what we saw unravel appears to be a textbook internal communications failure. I don’t think this news was meant to break the way it did. It should have been a carefully choreographed, PR-approved shift, at least if the ensuing headlines were meant to be avoided — or maybe Anna just doesn’t care?

Still, if my timelines are correct, Vogue didn’t even break this news themselves (my research gives WWD that credit)— and I suspect that’s because their comms team wasn’t properly looped in (Vanessa Friedman all but confirmed this in her latest Open Thread newsletter, which she attributed to Anna wanting to control her own narrative. Fair, but risky).

After all, if they had been, they could have headed off the confusion before it took over everyone’s feeds.