Anna Wintour has chosen: Chloé Malle will be the new director of Vogue America

The news of the step back of Anna Wintour, British-born journalist but for almost 40 years at the helm of Vogue America, perhaps the world's most famous fashion monthly (now actually a web platform rather than a printed magazine), had arrived at the beginning of the summer, first as a rumour but quickly confirmed by the publishing house that controls all editions of Vogue and many other magazines, Condé Nast.

At 75 years of age, Wintour had said she was ready to leave the management during an internal meeting with the staff on the morning of Thursday 26 June, a farewell that clearly marked the end of an era, but which would not - it was made clear - be a complete departure. It was explained that Anna Wintour would continue to hold two key roles within the Condé Nast publishing group: that of Global Chief Content Officer and Global Editorial Director of Vogue, thus maintaining a significant influence on the future of the entire network. Since that June 26th, however, rumours had been swirling about who would take over as editor-in-chief of Vogue America. There had even been speculation that the name would come only after the release of the second chapter of 'The Devil Wears Prada', which is currently being worked on in New York and whose plot is unknown, even though the one released twenty years ago was based on a book written by a former assistant of Anna Wintour, named differently (Miranda Pristley, played by Meryl Streep then as in the new chapter), just as Vogue had been renamed Runway (catwalk, in English).

For days, American newspapers have been naming 39-year-old Chloé Malle as the new director, now there is confirmation. And the online comments are not always positive. The most used definition is 'nepo baby', or 'example of nepotism': well known in New York, less so in Europe, Chloé Mall is the daughter of actress Candice Bergen and director Louis Malle; she graduated from Brown University and lives in New York with her husband and two children. She joined Vogue in 2011 as social editor (in charge of social networks) and then held various roles, moving from sittings editor to contributing editor, until becoming editor of Vogue.com in 2023, where she led all the brand's digital activities. Under his direction, explains an official note, traffic on the site doubled, with a monthly average of 14.5 million unique users and a strong growth in engagement at events such as the Met Gala and Vogue World. He has also created innovative editorial projects such as 'Dogue', the Vogue Vintage Guide, new newsletter formats and a section dedicated to weddings, expanding its content by 30%. The appointment puts Chloé Malle in the select group of the title's 10 global editorial heads, reporting directly to Anna Wintour, confirmed as Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast and Global Editorial Director of Vogue in June.

Chloe is also co-host of 'The Run-through' podcast, launched in 2022, and has edited several Vogue-related publications. Commenting on the appointment, Anna Wintour said: 'Chloe has proven time and time again that she can balance Vogue America's unique history with its future evolution. I am delighted to continue working with her, not only as a mentor, but also as a student of her vision'. While the new editor-in-chief's words were, "Vogue has already helped shape the person I am. Now I'm excited to help shape the future of the brand, combining editorial content, video, events and social platforms to meet the new needs of the audience".