Racist slab haunts Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour thought about fashion since she dedicated herself to adapting her uniform from the elite North London Collegiate school to the prevailing style of

of the moment.

Her career has led her to be known as the most powerful fashion editor in the world and with it increased the prestige of

, the magazine where she is editor-in-chief since 1988 and artistic director of Condé Nast since 2013. Being the editorial leader of all titles from one of the most important publishing groups in the world with titles such as

addition to

itself

, has given him carte blanche to elevate and truncate designer careers, to decide what to wear and what not, to set trends and impose uniforms on

unrepentant

.

Also to organize one of the galas, that of the MET, in which everyone who aspires to be officially recognized as a winner worthy of appearing on the guest list that Wintour personally supervises kills to be there.

In 2019, when he turned 70, he held the throne with no signs of retreat.

A year later, the woman who hides behind huge dark glasses and who inspired the movie

, revolts like the tigress that hides under her glamorous facade to defend herself against the accusations of racism that some of her employees revealed at the same time with the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, after the death of the African American George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman.

On June 4, she was already forced to publish a statement apologizing: “I want to say clearly that I know that

has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to editors, editors, photographers, designers and all kinds of black creators.

In addition, we have made mistakes and published images and stories that have been harmful and intolerant.

I take full responsibility for them ", admitted the British, and continued:" It must not be easy being a black worker at

, and there are very few of you.

I know it is not enough to say that we will do better, but we will.

And please know that I value your voices and your responses as we move forward.

I am listening and I would like to hear your comments and suggestions if you wish to share them ”.

Now an extensive article published in

reveals that some black

employees

have preferred to speak to the publication under the umbrella of anonymity than to do so with its editor-in-chief.

Among the 18 black people who have spoken with the American newspaper, the conclusion is that the profile of the ideal

employee

was very clear: someone thin, white, from a wealthy family and educated in elite schools.

A former black member of the fashion magazine staff

“Fashion sucks, that's how it's supposed to be.

But in

when evaluating a session or a certain style, we would say, 'This is

or this is not

' and what it really meant was: slim, rich and white.

How do you work in that environment?

Eleven of the workers consulted have opined that Anna Wintour should no longer be in charge of

and would have to leave her position as editorial leader at Condé Nast.

An opinion that they link to emails from Wintour in which he uses an offensive term to refer to blacks and controversies with incidents of cultural appropriation, such as using model Karlie Kloss to represent a geisha in a photo shoot, or minimizing the importance of an unfortunate article published in the magazine that analyzed the appearance of Kendall Jenner with fake gold teeth at an event and linked it to a possible kiss from her supposed boyfriend, the black rapper ASAP Rocky.

Most of those interviewed agree that the racism they faced was subtle but forceful.

And the main accusation they share is that Anna Wintour created a work environment that especially marginalizes black women, to the point that some employees speak of the need to create a kind of

work

and that they adapted their clothing and their way of presenting themselves to be more in line with the editor's demands, in a daily exercise that they describe as “mentally exhausting”.

The editor also has powerful support among employees who say that Condé Nast has made positive changes and that Wintour has promoted black people to important positions within the structure.

Also with the statements in his favor of the model Naomi Campbell who appeared on the cover of the September 1989 issue: “She has been a very important factor in my career and in my life, she has been honest and fought for me to achieve that cover page".

The fact is that the fighting within the company has led to the resignation of key editors and the promise of the executive editor, Roger Lynch, and Wintour herself to change hiring practices.

But the numbers on the rare covers featuring people of color - just three out of 81 between 2000 and 2005, a figure Condé Nast has said it improved by stating that between 2017 and 2020, 32% of

covers

featured black women. - and demonstrations such as André Leon Talley, who was another of the greats in

question it.

Talley, who left the magazine in 2013 after a confrontation with Wintour, said then: “She is part of a colonial environment.

I don't think he will ever let anything get in the way of his white privilege. "

Currently another prominent black of the group, Edward Enninful, director of

British

since 2017, is pointed out as a potential successor to Wintour in the US edition but also as one of the group's main editors who do not have what is said to be a fluid relationship with the

Anna.

Wintour has not limited himself to responding with words to accusations of racism and has done so with deeds in the September issue of the magazine, the most important of the year.

How?

Filling its 316 pages with black artists, models and photographers and using a title that sounds like a declaration of intent,

The same hope that she may have of being able to redeem herself before those who have been portrayed as a symbol of the most elite racism and for those who think that the gesture made now in the magazine is only a hypocritical and calculated apology.