Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour Vital Stats

Birth Name: Anna Wintour
Birth Date: November 3, 1947
Birth Place: London, England
Height: 5’7”
Romantic Link: Shelby Bryan
Claim To Fame: Editor in Chief U.S. Vogue

Anna Wintour Interesting Facts

Anna Wintour’s likeness was parodied in the animated movie The Incredibles.

Anna Wintour has raised over $10 million for AIDS charities since 1990.

Anna Wintour wakes up every morning at 5:45 a.m., plays tennis for an hour, and then gets her hair and makeup professionally done before she heads out for her day.

Anna Wintour is a liberal and endorsed Al Gore in his presidential bid.

Anna Wintour has had the bob cut hairstyle since she was 14 years old.


Anna Wintour Biography

Born on November 3, 1947, in London England to parents Charles Vere and Eleanor, Anna Wintour grew up with three of her four siblings; James Charles, Nora Hilary, and Patrick; Gerald Jackson, her oldest brother, died when Anna was only 3, after being struck by a car while riding his bike to school.

Growing up, Anna attended North London Collegiate School, and became increasingly interested in fashion; her father, who was the editor of the Evening Standard, would even consult Anna regarding the youth market.

By age 15, Anna’s father got her a job at a boutique and it was also at this time that she began dating older, well-connected men; men who could help her get ahead in life. First, she dated a man who was 9 years older than her, then, in her late teens, she began dating gossip columnist Nigel Dempster.

Anna Wintour’s fashion jobs

Knowing that she would work in the fashion industry in some capacity, Anna opted not to attend college, but rather took up a training program offered at Harrod’s. Due to her parent’s insistence, however, Anna enrolled in some fashion course, but eventually dropped out because she felt that she knew all there was to know about fashion.

Still the network queen, Anna continued to date men who could help her excel in her chosen field. One man, Richard Neville, gave Anna a real glimpse at magazine production when she visited him at his office.

By 1970, when Anna was 23, she landed her first job as an editorial assistant for Harper’s & Queen (UK) magazine, so called due to a temporary merger of Harper’s Bizarre and Queen magazines.

Anna Wintour in New York

Thanks to the connections she had been busy making during her formative years, Anna was able to put together some very creative photo shoots, often snapped by famed photographer Helmut Newton. But by 1975, Anna decided to leave the magazine and relocated to New York.

Anna landed a job at Harper’s Bizarre as a junior fashion editor, but was fired about 9 months later, due to her constant conflicts with editor Tony Mazzola.

Luckily, by 1980, one of her ex-boyfriends, Jon Bradshaw, got Anna her first job as a fashion editor with a magazine called Savvy. Only a year later, however, Anna left Savvy to work for another magazine called New York. It was her time spent at this magazine that would make all the difference in Anna’s life.

Anna Wintour at Vogue

All of her ideas for fashion and photo spreads were well received by the industry, and she was given the creative freedom to work on other sections of the magazine besides just fashion.

Having put celebrity Rachel Ward on the cover of New York, Anna quickly learned that celebrities help magazines fly off shelves. Anna’s work caught the eye of Alex Liberman, publisher of Vogue, and before she knew it, Anna’s dream had been realized. In 1983, she finally landed a job at the magazine she coveted most.

Hired in the position of creative director, a title that had never been assigned before, Anna’s position was never clearly defined, leaving Anna to do as she pleased at the magazine, upsetting then editor Grace Mirabella at every turn.

Anna Wintour editor on chief

It was also at this time that Anna began dating David Shaffer; the two were married in September 1984. A year later, Anna became pregnant and gave birth to son Charlie in 1986.

Soon after the birth of their son, Anna was given the post of editor at British Vogue. The position had its perks, as Anna was provided with many perks, including a townhouse and nanny.

After making many adjustments and changes to the magazine to turn it into her vision, Anna left the UK and returned to New York to take on the position of editor at House & Garden magazine. But because Anna was a fashion maven and not particularly good with house and gardening ideas, her transformation of the magazine did more harm than good. By 1988, Anna left the magazine, but things were about to take a turn for the better.

In 1989, Anna’s hard work and job shifting had finally paid off; she landed the position of Editor in Chief at Vogue magazine.

Making a host of changes to the way fashion magazines are published, Anna has since overseen the overseen spinoff magazines Teen Vogue, Vogue Living and Men’s Vogue.

With an annual salary that reaches an estimated $2 million, and very interesting perks like clothes budgets and such, there’s no doubt that Anna Wintour deserves the title of the “most powerful woman in fashion.”

Resource:
IMDb.com - Anna Wintour