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Vogue’s Anna Wintour dealing with possible revolt from disgruntled employees: report

August 8, 2022 | | Print Article

Anna Wintour, the iconic editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and global chief content officer at Conde Nast, may be facing a revolt just as she is putting together one of the year’s biggest issues — the September preview of the hottest fall fashions to hit the runway.

According to the Daily Mail’s Emily Prescott, “pay, contracts, and union recognition” are vying with fabrics, patterns, and catwalks for the attention of Conde Nast’s staff.

Angry workers at Vogue’s sister publication, Wired, have already threatened to shut down revenue-generating advertising links on the magazine’s website, a move that would potentially cost the magazine millions.

“We stand firm in the belief that all Conde Nast employees deserve the rights and protections of a union and a fair contract,” the workers stated.

The threat worked. Conde Nast quickly caved and staff members were rewarded with more pay and contracts.

The “No contracts, No clicks” protest is now poised for a potential visit to Vogue, just in time for their big issue, according to industry insiders.

“Staff across the titles have learned how to hit Conde where it hurts,’ one source said. “There’s a lot more people displaying their ‘Conde Union’ badges on their work emails and [workplace messaging service] Slack chat profiles now.”

While Wintour has yet to battle a digital protest in her 34 years at Vogue, these disgruntled employees are hardly her first rodeo.

In April, the woman Prescott describes as a “notoriously formidable 72-year-old fashion high-priestess” was greeted outside her New York townhouse by 400 protesters sporting signs that read “You can’t eat prestige” and “The boss wears Prada, the workers get nada.”

The pay dispute comes at a time when Vogue is receiving negative press over a glossy, super-glam photo shoot the magazine conducted with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, for its July cover feature.

The article centers on Zelenska, 44, and carries the headline: “Portrait of Bravery: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska.”

As BizPac Review reported, critics slammed the lavish photoshoot — shot at the couple’s compound in Mariinsky Palace — as being tone-deaf and in poor taste given that the United States has just sent Ukraine billions of struggling taxpayers’ dollars to help him cope with his war against Russia.

While the article’s author, Rachel Donadio, called her piece “one of the most moving and memorable assignments of my career,” many felt the feature romanticized the war.

The images of Ukraine’s first couple were taken by no less than photography legend Annie Leibovitz.

For Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), it was not a good look for Vogue.

“While we send Ukraine $60 billion in aid Zelenskyy is doing photoshoots for Vogue Magazine,” she tweeted. “These people think we are nothing but a bunch of suckers.”

Melissa Fine
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