She is known for her bob, feared for her froideur and respected for her long stewardship of American Vogue.
So when Anna Wintour, 75, announced in June that she was stepping down as editor-in-chief of the glossy title after 37 years, talk immediately turned to who could possibly replace her.
Three months later, we finally have the answer. Step forward, Chloe Malle, the 39-year-old Vogue staffer who will take over as US Vogue’s head of editorial content with immediate effect.
Malle may not yet possess a hairstyle recognisable at ten paces, but she does have a proven track record of commercial success, having doubled traffic to vogue.com since becoming editor of the online platform in 2023.
In her new role, she will lead the creative and editorial direction of the title, while still reporting to Wintour, who remains chief content officer of Conde Nast and global editorial director of Vogue.
Since joining the magazine in 2011, Malle has co-hosted Vogue’s weekly fashion and culture podcast, strengthened its newsletters and expanded its wedding coverage, as well as launching viral hits such as Dogue, a tongue-in-cheek fashion magazine for dogs.
When Anna Wintour (above) announced in June that she was stepping down as editor-in-chief of the glossy title after 37 years, talk immediately turned to who could possibly replace her
Step forward, Chloe Malle (above) the 39-year-old Vogue staffer who will take over as US Vogue’s head of editorial content with immediate effect
Malle’s mother Candice Bergen (above, left) is an actor who played the fictitious editor of American Vogue in Sex And The City
A Wintour protege, Malle has been tipped as favourite since coordinating Vogue’s coverage of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s marriage to Lauren Sanchez in June, as well as being hand-picked to write an exclusive interview with Sanchez.
Which isn’t bad going for a woman who, in a 2014 interview, confessed that ‘fashion is not one of my main interests in life’.
Paradoxically, this may prove to be a strength. A graduate of Brown University who lives in New York City with her financial analyst husband, two children and a dog, Malle is said to be as happy building Lego as sitting on the front row.
She is also regarded by colleagues as far more approachable than her mentor and therefore unlikely to adopt Wintour’s habit of wearing Chanel sunglasses 24/7.
It’s perhaps significant that in Malle’s first official photograph for Vogue, she was pictured wearing jeans and a casual pink and yellow $645 (£482) Dries Van Noten shirt.
But while the new ‘devil’ might not wear Prada, her lineage has led envious critics to claim that Malle has been handed her role on a silver platter.
Her late father is French film director Louis Malle, while her mother is American actress Candice Bergen.
Bergen, 79, has appeared twice on the cover of Vogue – in May 1967 and February 1969 – as well as notching up 104 mentions in fashion and lifestyle spreads over the years.
Malle (above) may not yet possess a hairstyle recognisable at ten paces, but she does have a proven track record of commercial success
Malle has been tipped as favourite since coordinating Vogue’s coverage of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s marriage (above) to Lauren Sanchez in June
Wintour (above) will remain chief content officer of Conde Nast and global editorial director of Vogue
In a curious case of life imitating art, Bergen also played the fictitious editor of American Vogue in Sex And The City, a recurring role that saw her character, Enid Frick, tell Carrie Bradshaw that ’40 is the last age a woman can be photographed in a wedding dress’.
No doubt her daughter will have more modern, inclusive views.
‘Fashion and media are both evolving at breakneck speed, and I am so thrilled, and awed, to be part of that,’ Malle said.
‘I also feel incredibly fortunate to still have Anna just down the hall as my mentor.’
A reminder, perhaps, that despite Malle’s new role, Wintour remains the real power behind the throne.
