5 shocking facts about Anna Wintour, Vogue’s iconic editor-in-chief 2023

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, is perhaps the most prepared for the annual fashion event than anyone else as the Met Gala 2023 approaches.

This year, the greatest night in fashion will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on the first Monday of May. Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty will be the theme of the Met Gala in 2023, honoring the legacy of the legendary German fashion designer and longstanding friend of Anna Wintour.

Since 1995, Anna Wintour has overseen the Met Gala and its exclusive guest list with great care. The British journalist has been a fixture at the Met Gala and in the fashion industry for decades, with her signature black sunglasses and flawlessly coiffed bob.

It is not surprising that the editor-in-chief of Vogue is one of the most prominent figures in fashion, given that she has a background in journalism and has worked in fashion since she was 15 years old.

Her father was a renowned editor of a publication.

Anna Wintour was born on 3 November 1949 to Charles Wintour, a British journalist, and Eleanor Trego Baker, whose father was a Harvard Law School professor. Charles, her father, was the executive editor of the London Evening Standard. Patrick, one of her four siblings, is also a journalist and The Guardian’s diplomatic editor.

At North London Collegiate School, Wintour defied the dress code by raising the hemlines of her skirts. Wintour stated in the 2009 documentary The September Issue that her upbringing in London during the 1960s shaped her perspective on fashion and caused her to fall in love with it at a young age.

She began her career in fashion at age 15.

According to biographer Jerry Oppenheimer, her father helped her secure her first job in fashion at the London boutique Biba when she was 15 years old, the same year she began wearing her hair in the now-iconic bob with bangs.

Before becoming an editorial associate at Harper’s Bazaar UK and Harper’s & Queen, she completed a training program for teenagers at Harrods. She moved to New York City in 1975, where she worked as an assistant fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar.

In 1983, Wintour earned the position of creative director at the American fashion magazine Vogue. Wintour succeeded Beatrix Miller as editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 1985, but returned to New York City in 1988 to become editor-in-chief of Vogue.

Her annual apparel expenditure reportedly exceeds $200,000

Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, allegedly provides the fashion icon with a lavish apparel allowance of $200,000 (approximately £120,000). The shocking figure was divulged by an anonymous source in the New York Times’ T Magazine. In addition to her annual salary, the British editor reportedly receives many designer clothing and accessories as gifts.

Despite a rumored apparel budget, Wintour’s estimated net worth is $50 million, and her annual salary is reportedly between $2 million and $4 million.

She has two offspring.

Wintour wed child psychiatrist David Shaffer in 1984. They were married for fifteen years prior to their separation in 1999. They have two children together.

Her son, Charlie Shaffer, is a clinical psychiatry assistant professor at Weill Cornell. From 2014 to 2017, her daughter Bee Carrozzini (née Shaffer) worked as a producer for Late Night With Seth Meyers.

She dons her Chanel spectacles in order to conceal her boredom.

While Wintour’s dark sunglasses are her trademark, they actually serve a purpose. In a 2009 interview with 60 Minutes, the editor of Vogue disclosed that she frequently dons her large sunglasses to conceal her reactions to fashion shows.

“They are incredibly beneficial. I mean, I can sit through a performance and nobody will notice if I’m bored to tears. And if I’m having fun, nobody will notice,” said Wintour. “At this point, I believe they’ve become, you know, actual armor.”

On Monday, May 1, 2023, the Met Gala will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” is the theme of this year’s Met Gala, which will “examine the life” of the late designer.

The dress code for the annual event, which raises funds for the Costume Institute of the museum, requires guests to wear apparel “in honour of Karl” – namely, looks inspired by his work as creative director at Chanel or Fendi. The accompanying exhibition at the Costume Institute will “explore [his] stylistic language” through the display of approximately 150 works by the renowned German designer.

In addition to the editor-in-chief of Vogue, the event will have four co-chairs: Dua Lipa, Michaela Coel, Penélope Cruz, and Roger Federer. Fans can watch the Met Gala 2023 red carpet simulcast on the Vogue website or its social media platforms on Monday, May 1 at 6.30pm ET.