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StyleAnna WintourJun 27, 2025

‘I Never Thought This Would Happen’: Former ‘Vogue’ Staffer Reacts to Anna Wintour Stepping Down as EIC

Wintour’s announcement blindsided much of Condé Nast, the one-time staffer says.

By Precious Fondren
Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Gordon Parks Foundation

File this under headlines we never thought we’d see in our lifetime: Anna Wintour is stepping down as editor-in-chief of American Vogue. 

The iconic fashion figure, whose icy precision helped inspire the 2006 movie The Devil Wears Prada, told staff Thursday that she’ll be relinquishing her role as the face behind the magazine and will begin searching for a new “head of editorial content” to take her place, according to WWD.

“When I became the editor of Vogue, I was eager to prove to all who might listen that there was a new, exciting way to imagine an American fashion magazine,” Wintour, 75, told staffers during the meeting. “Now, I find that my greatest pleasure is helping the next generation of impassioned editors storm the field with their own ideas, supported by a new, exciting view of what a major media company can be. And that is exactly the kind of person we need to now look for to be HOEC for U.S. Vogue.”

While the announcement shook the internet, it also blindsided much of Condé Nast, according to a former Vogue staffer, who still works at the media company. 

“It's shocking, and then all day it's just, like, [whispers] going on,” the source says. “And then no one outside of people in the meeting had actually heard it from the horse's mouth. By the time I heard it from another colleague, it was like [a] game of telegram.”

“What she does is American ‘Vogue,’ so for her to hire someone to do that job means that she‘s basically retiring.”

The source, who worked for Vogue until 2024, added that Condé employees have yet to receive any formal companywide communication about the move. 

“It's weird because I never thought this would happen,” the source says. “And I don't think anyone at the brand specifically, Vogue, ever thought it was going to happen. I think everyone pretty much knew—thought she would just stay there until she died. It just feels very random that it would happen at this time.”

Though Wintour will stay on as Vogue’s global editorial director and Condé Nast’s chief content officer, insiders say this shift is still significant. 

“She does other things, and she's involved in other things with other brands on a check-ins basis, but make no mistake, she's stepping away,” the source says. “What she does is American Vogue, so for her to hire someone to do that job means that she's basically retiring.”

Speculation is already swirling over who will step into the new HOEC role, and according to the source, it likely won’t be a job open to applicants. 

“I know when the EIC at British Vogue stepped down, she had some people in place already, like before they made the announcement that he was leaving,” the former Vogue staffer says. “It's not going to be an application process, because this is something that she's probably had to think through.”

Wintour’s departure as EIC marks the end of an era. She oversaw Vogue for nearly 40 years, defining its look and tone, power, and influence in the fashion world. 

Good luck to whoever steps into her stilettos. 

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