ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
American Vogue has a new editorial chief. Chloe Malle is the current editor of Vogue's website and co-host of the podcast "The Run-Through With Vogue." As NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas reports, Malle has big designer heels to step into.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Chloe Malle succeeds Anna Wintour, the famous and famously steely presence who commanded the fashion world for 37 years and who was immortalized in the film "The Devil Wears Prada." This is a promotion for Chloe Malle, who's 39 years old. Malle comes from Hollywood royalty. Her father was the French film director Louis Malle, and her mother is actress Candice Bergen.
This morning, Malle told The New York Times she would prefer to drop the traditional monthly publishing schedule for the magazine and instead print occasional, more collectible issues. Last year, print circulation of Vogue dwindled to fewer than a million copies per issue on average. Jessica Testa interviewed Malle for The New York Times today.
JESSICA TESTA: I think their hope is that when you go and buy your new issue of Vogue, you're going to pose with it on your Instagram feed or your TikTok or whatever, that it's going to be a sort of status symbol that you're going to be, like, carrying it around with you.
TSIOULCAS: Almost as its own high-fashion accessory. Malle also said she wants to lean into reaching a smaller and more elite audience for both print and digital. This summer, she wrote a digital cover story on the wedding of Lauren Sanchez and billionaire Jeff Bezos. Testa says it might signal her editorial direction.
TESTA: It actually reminded me of early Vogue, which was focused on society women. You know, it didn't feel as familiar as modern-era Vogue, with different celebrities on the cover.
TSIOULCAS: And what about Anna Wintour, the former editor-in-chief of Vogue? She's staying on as the chief content officer at Conde Nast, Vogue's parent company, and she'll oversee all 28 international editions of Vogue just down the hall from Malle. And she'll still be Malle's boss.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF BANNI BEHR SONG, "VOGUE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
