Courtesy of AP
Does Anna Wintour ask for too many favors? A New York Times Thursday Styles story presents her as a power broker who uses her influence to "involve herself in the placement of designers at fashion houses." For instance, writes Cathy Horyn, the Vogue editor got designer Thom Browne into Brooks Brothers. (The clothing company's CEO says Wintour put "a lot of pressure" on him to "keep talking" with Browne.) While Horyn acknowledges that fashion editors in the past half-century have taken part in the industry they cover, she calls Wintour a more purposeful "dealmaker" than her colleagues and predecessors.
Sources say Wintour does it for the good of the industry, and Horyn seems more concerned about Wintour's homogenizing effect on fashion than any breaking of journalistic ethics. It's enough for her that sources absolve Wintour of the cardinal sin of journalism, exchanging advertising for editorial content. (Neither does Wintour do fashion house consulting, unlike some European fashion editors.)
But is that sufficient? Our own Ankush Khardori interprets one of the criticisms of Wintour, that she promotes labels of "dubious design merit," as evidence of her "hackery." He argues that perhaps Wintour is in fact peddling her influence for selfish motives. In most journalistic circles, this would be clearly unethical. Writer Ezra Klein counters that Vogue runs by different standards, and its editor is not obligated to take a dispassionate view. Radar uses Horyn's most damning quote — "She makes you understand that if you could [do her a favor], she would be very supportive with her magazine," says Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of French fashion company PPR — to characterize the Times piece as "the closest thing to a takedown ever to appear in 'Thursday Styles.'" Radar ignores, of course, all the tempering "she's doing it for the good of us all" talk from her colleagues. (Horyn's piece does convey a strong sense of affection/respect for Wintour in the industry — though of course, that could just be fear.) No one in fashion would dare try a straight-up takedown of the fashion queen — unless, like actress and fashion designer Tara Subkoff, they clearly no longer gave a damn.
