Ex-Vogue China Editor Shares Wild Anna Wintour Meeting

Australian-based fashionista Grace Lam has shared a wild story about turning down a high-profile job offer from her former boss, .

Wintour, 76, is the world-famous style guru who is the basis for 's 'villain' character in The Devil Wears Prada movie franchise. 

But Lam, 51, proved fearless when she confronted Wintour about a coveted role in Shanghai.

At the time, Lam was living in , raising a young family, after already spending a decade as senior fashion editor for Vogue .

Lam said Wintour wanted to talk to her about returning to her old magazine, but this time as editor-in-chief.   

'Working in China is tricky. It's not as easy as people think,' Lam shared in the latest episode of Mamamia Unleashed.

She continued, 'And I was like, "I don't want to bring up my son in China".'

Still, the style queen agreed to take a Zoom with Wintour, who is known for her trademark dark glasses, bobbed hairdo, and a 'demanding' manner with her employees.  

'So then she called me without glasses,' Lam said.

'...Straight away, she said to me, "How are you doing in Perth?".'

Adding that this was the first proper conversation she had ever had with Wintour, Lam joked that she did not find the media veteran 'scary at all'.

'So it was like, "We're looking for a new editor-in-chief for Vogue China. Your name came up quite a few times",' Lam said of the job interview.

'Straight away, I said, "No",' she added.

'I said, "I don't want to live in China again. I've done that. And I have a son to think about. So, I'm not doing it." So, then we hung up.