Anna Wintour Speaks on VP Cover Controversy, Amazon and Diversity Efforts
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Vogue editor Anna Wintour attend the Tom Ford’s Autumn/Winter 2020 show on February 7, 2020 in Hollywood, California. Getty Images.
The editor in chief of American Vogue and Condé Nast’s chief content officer said it was not the magazine’s intention to “in any way, diminish the importance of the Vice President-Elect’s incredible victory,” in an interview with the New York Times released Tuesday. She spoke about Vogue’s latest cover, which generated criticism online in recent days. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris appeared in Converse sneakers and a suit on the image chosen for the print cover, with another image of her in a more formal blue suit appearing on a digital alternative cover. Sources from Harris’s office have told press in recent days that they were disappointed the more formal image wasn’t chosen, and that they were “blindsided” by the decision.
“There was no formal agreement about what the choice of the cover would be,” Wintour told the NYT in a statement. “And when the two images arrived at Vogue, all of us felt very, very strongly that the less formal portrait of the Vice President-Elect really reflected the moment that we were living in which we are all in the midst — as we still are — of the most appalling pandemic that is taking lives by the minute. And we felt to reflect this tragic moment in global history, a much less formal picture, something that was very, very accessible and approachable and real, really reflected the hallmark of the Biden-Harris campaign and everything that they are trying to, and I’m sure will, achieve.”
Wintour’s comments came with the release of an interview she recorded with Kara Swisher’s podcast “Sway” before Vogue’s Harris cover was published. They spoke about the cover as well as other recent issues facing Condé Nast and fashion, from employee-led pushes to have a more inclusive workplace to the rise of fast fashion and Amazon.
”I wasn’t listening, or listening enough,” Wintour said in response to a question about an e-mail she sent Vogue staff in June, taking responsibilities for the magazine’s past mistakes, including hurtful images, and acknowledging it has not done enough to “give space to” Black creatives.
