The “Goddess” of Style

The movie The September Issue, a documentary about Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, brings Theresa Tan down memory lane.

The first time I saw Anna Wintour in the flesh, it was like spotting a unicorn. She was such a legend in the fashion industry — “the Pope” of fashion magazines, as she is referred to in the film The September Issue — that it seemed hardly real that she was standing two arms’ length away from me, in a cashmere turtleneck, a pencil skirt, and that season’s most desirable fur coat.

We were standing outside a glass house, waiting to gain entry into a Louis Vuitton spring/summer show in Paris. She was with Grace Coddington, she of the flaming hair (you see her in the movie too), who wore a white hat and something like an oversized jumpsuit. The third party of the Vogue trinity — Andre Leon Talley — was chatting with someone a few feet away.

“Is that Anna Wintour?” asked an awed ELLE editor from an Asian country.

“She looks so great,” breathed another one.

“What? She’s a prune in a Prada coat,” scoffed yet another one in Mandarin. “She should let me have that coat, I would do it justice.”

Here we stood, this gaggle of ELLE editors and fashion editors — specifically staffers from Asia: Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Singapore (me!). We were all under 1.65 metres tall, and nearly identically clad in varying degrees of black, distinguishable only by our different brands bags and scarves.

Our editorial director for Asia, who had been fashion director at ELLE US before she was seconded to Asia to help the burgeoning ELLE empire Eastside, went up to Wintour and said “Hi, Anna.” For years they had sat a few seats from each other on the front row of every major catwalk show in Paris and Milan.

The next second was one filled with such burning humiliation, it has forever been seared on my mind. Anna Wintour turned, ever so slowly, 90 degrees to the right, so that she would no longer face her greeter. Her sunglasses never came off. Her mouth never even twitched.

The gaggle of us looked away, feeling angry and sorry for our editorial director but knowing it was best to pretend we never saw what happened.

“I feel like stubbing my cigarette out on her coat,” said Coat-Coveting Editor in Mandarin. “But it would be a terrible waste of a coat.”

Many stories have been told about the legendary Ms Wintour. Many a young fashion editor (female and male) has mimicked her style. She has been immortalized, kind of, in a Pixar movie — Edna Mode in The Incredibles was a charming caricature. In The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep was, I felt, a too-kind interpretation of the most-feared name in fashion. The real Wintour doesn’t even need words to cut you down to thumb-size.

But even though Anna Wintour will never be your or my BFF, she is still the best fashion magazine editor who ever lived. Harper’s Bazaar’s Diana Vreeland may be a legend for spotting some of the most famous models the world has ever known (including that editorial director from ELLE), but I have no doubt it is Anna Wintour who will, even after her death, be the ultimate editor icon for decades.

And this is what The September Issue reveals: that despite her icy-cold demeanour, and her can-we-not-waste-time-with-anyone-who-is-a-lesser-mortal attitude, Anna Wintour is the unrivalled decision-maker of what is stylish or not.

Her editorial yeses and nos have a direct impact on whether a trend is truly a trend, or if this designer is still hot or already a has-been. The models and celebrities who make it onto the covers of Vogue can be assured that they will be getting some multi-million sponsorship or endorsement deal in the near future (that is, if they’re not already the First Lady of the United States!).

Wintour’s one editorial pick — whether she champions an obscure brand like Rodarte or declares her love for Ralph Lauren’s surprisingly strong latest collection — causes ripples and repercussions across the world. Overnight, young editors in Singapore are declaring their love for Rodarte, and Ralph Lauren is hot again. (Latest news: French conglomerate LVMH is reportedly looking at acquiring Rodarte — and Wintour and Vogue were the first to give the Mulleavy sisters a big push into the fashion limelight.)

Such power in the hands of one person — not even Hollywood moguls can claim that level of irreplaceable importance.

Watch The September Issue for an honest and revealing portrayal of what goes on behind the scenes at the most important fashion magazine in existence — a peek into the handful of minds and relationships that shape the style of the world in our generation.

The September Issue opens Thursday, 24 September.

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