Has Anna Wintour's era come to an end? Amidst recent protests, for one of the most powerful figures in fashion it might be time to step down

For the past 2-3 decades, everyone in, and many outside of the fashion industry have assimilated the name Anna Wintour with the dawn of modern day fashion. As artistic director of Condé Nast and Editor-in-chief for the past 32 years of American Vogue - the magazine which has been considered the world’s most powerful fashion publication, she has long been seen as the mother of fashion and one of the main figures who has helped shape the industry into what it is today. For pop culture she has also played an iconic role which we’ve witnessed with the Devil Wears Prada which was based on her, as well as the countless numbers of rap and hip hop songs that have mentioned her. She has made her entire career through mastering the method of anticipating and responding appropriately to cultural trends, changing the way in which trends are produced and the shift in how we view celebrity culture.

In 2008 she published the famous Lebron James cover which was reminiscent of racist King Kong imagery; in 2017 the magazine came under fire for cultural appropriation after publishing an issue with Karlie Kloss in a geisha outfit. These were only a few of the many occasions in which the magazine has had to issue apologies for being racially and culturally insensitive within the past few years — which many from the company claim is as a result of having a workplace that has hired mainly a certain type of employee “someone who is thin and white, typically from a wealthy family and educated at elite schools” according to the NY Times. 

It is no doubt that the industry is difficult to work in, and this has been abundantly clear in the way Wintour has been portrayed and carried herself. However the questions being raised is not in regards to her competency or rigour as she has proven herself to be one of the key figures of the industry, but what many are now asking is if she now has what it takes to keep up with the current changing times where people are demanding for magazines and fashion in general to keep up with the politically correct times, especially in the case of America where things seem to be changing for the worst. Vogue’s parent company Conde Nast has recently issued a statement assuring that they are in the process of working on things, “Anna and Vogue and all the leaders at our brands have made concerted efforts to build inclusion into all we do every day” but many within and outside of the fashion community remain divided in opinion, some championing for fresh blood at the magazine, while others defend her legacy.