Goddess of Fashion: Anna Wintour

 One cannot deny Anna Wintour’s impact on the fashion industry. Known as the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988, she holds the most influential position with her signature bob haircut and sunglasses.

Even if you aren’t familiar with Wintour, you've likely heard of Vogue (the magazine), the Met Gala, or at least 'The Devil Wears Prada' (the movie). Let’s delve into who Anna Wintour is and how she became so successful.

Anna Wintour was born on November 3rd, 1949, in London, into a prominent British family. Her father, Charles Wintour, was the editor of the London Evening Standard newspaper, and her mother, Eleanor "Nonie" Trego Baker, was an American philanthropist. Wintour began her career as a fashion assistant at Harper’s & Queen and worked for various fashion magazines. She was an ambitious and confident young woman who would do anything to reach her goals. Influenced by the second-wave feminist movement during her youth, she believed in her power to be in charge, at the top, just like “men”. As a boss, she was known to be difficult and thoroughly demanding. Most people who worked with her were afraid of her. Wintour would not simply follow through with given instructions; instead, she would do things her own way and argue if there were disagreements.

She later moved to New York City and continued to work in fashion journalism, eventually becoming an editor at Harper’s Bazaar in 1975. Wintour took over as the editor-in-chief of American Vogue in 1988, completely transforming the magazine. In 2013, she also became the Artistic Director of Condé Nast, the mass media company behind the publication of Vogue and some twenty other magazines, including GQ, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Wintour has also been a key figure in organizing the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City, known for its elaborate and often avant-garde fashion.

It is thoroughly interesting that she believed in herself so much that she did everything she could. Despite criticisms of her management style, she remains a milestone in the fashion industry with overwhelming success. I wonder, could she have achieved such success without her strong self-belief, even if some have labeled her as narcissistic?