Anna Wintour Kept Her Sunglasses On the Entire Time She Was Telling Pitchfork Staffers They Were Getting Laid Off, Writer Says (2024)

Anna Wintour, CondéNast’s longtime fashion doyenne, is famous for a singular style trademark — her sunglasses.

Indeed, Wintour didn’t take off her sunglasses the entire time she met with employees of Pitchfork this week to tell them they were losing their jobs after CondéNast had decided to subsume the music criticism site into GQ, according to one now-former employee in attendance.

“One absolutely bizarro detail from this week is that Anna Wintour — seated indoors at a conference table — did not remove her sunglasses while she was telling us that we were about to get canned,” Allison Hussey, a former Pitchfork staff writer, wrote on X. “The indecency we’ve seen from upper management this week is appalling.”

It’s unclear whether Wintour’s reported decision to not remove her eyewear during the meeting was a deliberate fashion choice or, rather, a way to avoid having to look Pitchfork’s employees in the eye. Reps for Condé Nast did not respond to a request for comment.

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In a 2009 interview with “60 Minutes,” Wintour offered an explanation for the omnipresent sunglasses: “They are seriously useful. I can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice… At this point, they have become, really, armor.”

Condé Nast on Wednesday told staffers that Pitchfork, the music news and criticism site the company bought in 2015, will merge with men’s magazine GQ. First launched in 1996, Pitchfork has become known for effusively praising favored artists while harshly dinging those that provoke its disapproval. The decision “was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company,” Wintour, Condé Nast’s chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue, wrote in a memo to staff.

Pitchfork staff members being let go include editor-in-chief Puja Patel and features editor Jill Mapes, who commented on X, “after nearly 8 yrs, mass layoffs got me. glad we could spend that time trying to make it a less dude-ish place just for GQ to end up at the helm.”

Upwards of half of Pitchfork’s staff are believed to have been laid off. Other staffers who posted on social media about being pink-slipped included senior staff writer Marc Hogan, associate editor Sam Sodomsky, associate news director Evan Minsker, and associate staff writers Hattie Lindert and Matthew Ismael Ruiz.

The company’s changes with Pitchfork come after Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch said last November that the company planned to lay off about 5% of total headcount, among other steps to cut costs.

Anna Wintour Kept Her Sunglasses On the Entire Time She Was Telling Pitchfork Staffers They Were Getting Laid Off, Writer Says (2024)

FAQs

Anna Wintour Kept Her Sunglasses On the Entire Time She Was Telling Pitchfork Staffers They Were Getting Laid Off, Writer Says? ›

Allison Hussey, a former staff writer for Pitchfork, wrote on X that the longtime Vogue editor kept her sunglasses on in a meeting informing staff they were losing their jobs. Wintour was elevated to global chief content officer of Condé Nast

Condé Nast
Condé Nast (/ˌkɒndeɪˈnæst/) is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Condé_Nast
and global editorial director of Vogue in 2020.

Is Anna Wintour the most powerful person in fashion? ›

Anna Wintour is the most powerful woman in the $350 billion fashion industry. Dubbed the grand dame of fashion by Forbes, she's the brain behind the most influential publication in fashion. Wintour was born in London to a British newspaper editor. She showed an early interest in editing and business.

Why is Anna Wintour so important in fashion? ›

Wintour has been instrumental in bolstering the careers of numerous prominent fashion professionals, including the 1990s generation of supermodels, gifted fashion photographer Herb Ritts, and several important designers.

Why does Anna Wintour wear sunglasses everywhere? ›

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In a 2009 interview with “60 Minutes,” Wintour offered an explanation for the omnipresent sunglasses: “They are seriously useful. I can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice… At this point, they have become, really, armor.”

Does Anna Wintour approve every outfit? ›

While she doesn't choose the theme, Wintour is known to approve almost every outfit worn on the gala's famous red carpet.

Why does Anna Wintour not change her hair? ›

Anna Wintour has admitted that she sticks to her iconic bob hairstyle because she's too 'lazy' to change it — and the one time she did, it was a disaster. The 69-year-old Vogue Editor in Chief traded questions with November's cover star, 'The one time I tried to change it, it was a disaster.

What does Anna Wintour eat? ›

In fact, as dinner rolls around, Anna loves grilled fish and pasta, in particular, carbonara. Not much of a cook herself, Anna keeps a private chef on staff at both her New York residence and her estate on Long Island. Glorious. And when she's entertaining, “one of her favourite things to serve is a chicken pot pie.”

Does Anna Wintour have a degree? ›

Life. Anna Wintour stopped going to school at 16 and started her career in fashion. She worked on magazines in America called New York and Home & Garden. She then went back to Britain and worked on a British magazine known as Vogue.

Who will replace Anna Wintour? ›

Denizens of Condé Nast suggest the frontrunner for the role is the London-born Chioma Nnadi, who currently resides in New York and heads up the digital arm of American Vogue, a position Wintour promoted her to in 2020.

Why is Anna Wintour a great leader? ›

Anna Wintour's leadership principles revolve around clarity, efficiency, adaptability, trust in her team, and a commitment to making a positive impact in the industry while staying true to one's vision and values. Her daily routine reflects her commitment to staying informed, organized, and accessible to her team.

Who was The Devil Wears Prada based on? ›

"It was possible this could be the end of the road for us." Weisberger is widely believed to have based Miranda on Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, for whom she herself had once worked as a personal assistant.

How much does Anna Wintour's assistant make? ›

The salary for the New York City-based role ranges from $60,000 USD to $80,000 USD.

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