"New York fashion is back": Anna Wintour on celebrating Vogue magazine's 130th anniversary
Anna Wintour, Condé Nast's chief content officer and Vogue's global editorial director, said she looks at anniversaries "as a celebration not only of the past but also of the future." It's what Vogue magazine intends to do as it recognizes its 130-year anniversary with Vogue World — a first-of-its-kind live fashion show event.
"I think this will be a real symbol about how New York fashion is back, how New York City is back and anything that we at Vogue and Condé Nast can do to support that is so important to us," Wintour told "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King.
The global fashion show event will feature pieces from renowned designers, including Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci and Valentino among others, and it will be livestreamed from New York Fashion Week.
Over 200 people will be featured on the runway, including Adut Akech, Emily Ratajkowski, Gigi Hadid and Lil Nas X, according to Vogue.
"We were so anxious to celebrate New York Fashion Week and also the city itself, and we thought what can we do that will be meaningful to our audiences and to the city as a whole?" Wintour said. "We decided to do a big street-fair-meets-fashion-show."
The magazine made headlines with its September cover story on tennis star Serena Williams suggesting she would depart from professional tennis. Planning for the story, Wintour said, took "well over a year."
"She came to Vogue, I think, because we've worked together for so many years," Wintour said. "I think she felt it was the right platform, the right place for her to tell her story."
Wintour said Williams' decision was "very difficult for somebody in her position with her incredible achievements."
"She worked with one of our writers that she knows to really talk about how she came to that decision, how she wanted to have another child, you know, how she had such extraordinary business ventures in her future," Wintour said.
She supported Williams at her final match at the U.S. Open last week, her signature bob haircut and dark sunglasses standing out in the crowd. Wintour said the look "just happened" and described it as "really safe, verging on boring."
"I think it would be hard for me to change at this point, but also the glasses are very useful at times," she said.
As for other people, the fashion icon said she likes "individual style."
"I like it when people dress like themselves and are surprising or are obviously having fun with fashion, but mostly I'm interested in them and what they have to say," she said.
