For those of my readers who are fairly new to fashion, make a note for yourself to become familiar with the fashion legacy that is Anna Wintour. In 1983 she made her way to Vogue as the magazine's first ever creative director. This July, she will be celebrating her 26th year as editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. Following the legacies of the great fashion influences and previous editors-in-chief of the magazine such as Condé Montrose Nast and Diana Vreeland, Wintour came into this position with some very large designer shoes to fill. As a result, she "decisively [informed] and [influenced] our world," which is exactly what she claims the people featured in this issue have done in her letter to the reader (Wintour).
As always, Wintour's letter delivered with strength. It is informative, yet it doesn't give away too much about the issue. It is serious, yet has an appropriate amount and style of comic relief. It contains an ode to the past, yet it also has a certain sense of pride for the present and hope for the future in the fashion world. Lastly, the vocabulary blends gracefully, freshly, and uniquely, as if the words were being chosen and used for the very first time: a feat that can only be accomplished by Wintour herself.
The goal of the letter from the editor is to prove to the reader that everything in the issue properly relates to the grand theme, which in this case is power. She starts off the letter by praising the influence Rihanna has over fashion designers this spring*, her fans every day, and the fashion world every time she puts an outfit together. However, Wintour is actually referencing many instances of influence in one: primarily, the influence of Rihanna; the influence of one of the most important men in fashion, Marc Jacobs; and the influence of the first issue of Vogue edited by Wintour, also known as the famous November 1988 feature of Christian LaCroix Haute Couture jacket daringly paired with a pair of distressed, acid-washed Guess jeans modeled by Michaela Bercu (an inspiration to Jacobs in this 2014 Power Issue).
The letter goes on to briefly explain what Rihanna and designer Dries Van Noten have in common with Grace Mahary and Cindy Bruna: power, influence, and most importantly, style. Wintour beautifully strings these very different people together by giving the reader tidbits of information about what makes them so special, simultaneously exciting us to read more. Finally, Wintour explains that this issue also covers the issue of diversity in the fashion world by reporting on the "broad sweep of young women from a variety of backgrounds" that was seen on runways all over the world this spring--diversity perhaps being the most influential topic in all of history (Wintour).
*Rihanna's style and attitude was found on runways all over the globe this spring: at Alexander Wang in New York, Tom Ford in London, Pucci in Milan, and Balmain in Paris. See my next post for pictures of fashion's Bajan muse.
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