Anna Wintour’s Vogue cover is more than a cameo – it’s a power play
The Guardian
Mark Borkowski, a press consultant and author, describes Wintour’s appearance on the cover as “a hell of a smart move”. “This is very much about Wintour not letting go of her power,” he says. “A lot of people in these types of jobs recognise they are sitting in a chair that has power. Wintour doesn’t believe that. She believes she is the power. She’s not a personality that’s going to fade away into the background.”
Even the ideation of the cover hints at the authority Wintour still wields. Writing in her editor’s letter, Malle outlines how it came about. She was in the backseat of Wintour’s personal town car (a nice power play by Wintour, and reminiscent of the first film) running ideas for the next batch of covers past her (a tacit hint that all the big decisions still need to be approved by Wintour) when Malle first suggested the idea. Wintour initially shot it down, saying: “That’s very flattering, Chloe, but it’s not really my style.” It then, so the story goes, fell to Streep to persuade her. Wintour called the Hollywood star directly (another not-so-subtle power move).
Wintour was dismissive of the first film when it came out in 2006. Although she did attend the premiere – wearing Prada, no less – she was cagey about her reaction. In 2024, at the opening of the musical version in London, she told the BBC that it was “for the audience and for the people I work with to decide if there are any similarities between me and Miranda Priestly”.
However, more recently she has seemed happier to engage, suggesting that Priestly is very much “a caricature” and a highly enjoyable and very fun one at that. The various social media videos that accompany the shoot drive this idea home. Streep stays in character, while Wintour plays herself. We see her fumble her lines and get the giggles. She is warm and witty, a sharp contrast to the icy Priestly.
We first saw her toy with the idea at the Oscars in March, where she jokingly referred to Anne Hathaway as “Emily”, a nod to Emily Blunt’s character in the film. Meanwhile, the next read in the Vogue Book Club is the novel by Lauren Weisberger that inspired the film. Borkowski suggests these stunts hint that Wintour is beginning to separate herself from brand Vogue. “Her life has been defined by Vogue,” he says. “Back in the day she was recognisable by a very distinctive haircut and a pair of dark glasses. She was a cypher. But now it’s all about the narrative of the personal brand.” She is, he says, “getting involved in the film because she sees it as something that can establish Anna Wintour, the brand”.