Chloe Malle does not completely replace Anna Wintour
The change is historic, but it doesn't feel like a radical break. On September 2, 2025, Condé Nast appointed Chloe Malle Head of Editorial Content at Vogue US, effective immediately. Her mission: to lead the creative direction and editorial line of the American magazine, both in print and on digital platforms, while reporting to Anna Wintour. The woman who embodied Vogue for nearly four decades has therefore not left the ecosystem: she remains Global Editorial Director of Vogue and Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast.
This division of roles alone encapsulates the transformation of fashion media . Vogue no longer simply seeks to produce a magazine that dictates taste. The brand must simultaneously maintain its cultural authority, attract luxury advertisers, nurture its social communities, develop video, podcasts, and newsletters, create global events, and sustain the desirability of a printed object that has become increasingly rare.
For Chloe Malle, Anna Wintour's true legacy may not be an editorial formula to replicate, but a question to solve: how to remain influential when attention itself has become fragmented? The shortcut is tempting: Chloe Malle is the "new Anna Wintour." In reality, the situation is more nuanced.
When Wintour announced in June 2025 that she was stepping down from the day-to-day editorial management of Vogue US, she retained two particularly strategic roles: Global Editorial Director of Vogue and Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast. The position given a few months later to Chloe Malle focused precisely on the day-to-day and creative direction of the American edition.
In other words, it's not a matter of erasure but a redistribution of editorial power. Anna Wintour retains a broad influence over the Vogue brand, its international editions, and some of its most powerful cultural assets, notably the Met Gala and Vogue World. Chloe Malle, on the other hand, has a platform directly linked to American content, its formats, and its relationship with audiences.
This model is indicative of a luxury that has become global: a heritage brand must protect its identity while giving more freedom to teams that understand the habits of their audiences.
Who is Chloe Malle?
Chloe Malle didn't join Vogue as a result of the change in leadership. She has been building her career there since 2011.Before her appointment, she worked on topics including culture, lifestyle, weddings, and society, before taking over as 2023. editor-in-chief of Vogue.comSince 2022, she has also co-hosted The Run-Through with Vogue, the weekly podcast dedicated to fashion and culture.
This trajectory explains part of Condé Nast's choice. Malle knows both the codes of the print magazine and those of an environment where a story can live in the form of an article, a video, a podcast, a newsletter, an event or a social publication.
His profile reflects a major shift in the luxury press: the role of an editor is no longer simply about arbitrating magazine pages. It now requires developing a multi-format content architecture. This transformation extends beyond Vogue. The French Ministry of Culture itself emphasizes how social media, artificial intelligence, and constant access to information have transformed press consumption habits, resulting in faster, more varied, and often more fragmented content.
Numerical results that weighed heavily in the nomination
Oneof the most interesting aspects of Chloé Malle's career can be found in the figures released by Condé Nast. Since she took over at Vogue.com in 2023, the group reports that direct traffic to the site has doubled. Vogue also recorded double-digit growth in several key metrics around major events such as the Met Gala and Vogue World. Condé Nast indicated in September 2025 that Vogue.com was reaching an average of 14.5 million unique monthly visitors.
Malle also contributed to the development of new editorial features: newsletters written by journalists, Dogue, the Vogue Vintage Guide , and the strengthening of the Weddings section, whose content production had increased by 30%. These figures offer a different perspective on his appointment.
The choice of Chloe Malle is not just a matter of fashion sensibility. It is also the choice of an editor who has already demonstrated her ability to transform publishing franchises into audience drivers.
For luxury media outlets, this represents a major strategic shift. The authority of an editorial brand is no longer measured solely by its historical prestige; it is also measured by its ability to create reading habits, identifiable regular features, and communities sufficiently engaged to return directly to it.
It is precisely this transformation that we were already analyzing in our report on luxury media becoming platforms of influence.
Vogue wants to move away from the opposition between print and digital
One of the first tangible changes of the Malle era paradoxically concerns print. Starting in 2026, Vogue US will switch to eight print issues per year, compared to a historical frequency closer to monthly. But the reasoning isn't that of a withdrawal from print altogether.
The issues are becoming larger, thicker, and are scheduled around major fashion events such as the spring and autumn seasons, the Met Gala , or Vogue World. Chloe Malle presents this evolution as a repositioning: it's about making each magazine more substantial and desirable, almost like an object to be kept.
This gamble perfectly encapsulates the new economy of luxury publishing. Digital caters to speed. Physical magazines cater to perceived value, long-term perspective, and collecting. This strategy ultimately brings publishing closer to the traditional mechanisms of luxury: less frequency, greater desirability.
For advertisers, the reasoning is also consistent. In a digital world dominated by content consumed in seconds, a premium magazine offers a controlled visual environment, a different temporality and a form of permanence particularly compatible with the codes of haute couture, jewelry or watchmaking.
Teen Vogue, Vogue Business: building an ecosystem rather than just a magazine
Another significant development: on November 3, 2025, Condé Nast announced that Teen Vogue would join Vogue.com. Teen Vogue would retain its own editorial identity but become an integral part of the Vogue platform. Chloé Malle would oversee it. Vogue Business had already undertaken a similar integration. The rationale is clear: in a fragmented media landscape, Condé Nast seeks to consolidate more content, services, and communities under a single brand and infrastructure. This structure allows Vogue to cover multiple levels of the same ecosystem.
- fashion and mainstream culture with Vogue;
- younger generations with Teen Vogue;
- professionals and decision-makers with Vogue Business;
- collections and analysis of fashion shows with Vogue Runway;
- the conversation with podcasts, newsletters, videos and social networks.
The media thus becomes a cultural platform with several editorial products catering to different uses. This evolution echoes the strategy of luxury brands themselves, which no longer consider boutiques, exhibitions, events, social media, and editorial content separately. All these experiences must contribute to a single brand universe.
A key battle: winning over young audiences without diluting Vogue
The integration of Teen Vogue also reveals a generational issue. During the announcement in November 2025, Vogue explained that young audiences represented more than half of its social media followers and its YouTube audience.
This is significant. For a heritage magazine, new generations represent both an opportunity and an editorial challenge. They sometimes discover a fashion house, an art director, or a trend through TikTok before even consulting a specialized publication. Vogue's competition is therefore no longer limited to Harper's Bazaar, Elle , or The Cut. The reader's attention is now being contested by content creators, social media platforms, independent newsletters, podcasts, and specialized communities.
The answer, however, cannot be to imitate every digital trend. Vogue's competitive advantage remains its ability to prioritize, contextualize, and produce images with their own cultural power.
Chloe Malle 's challenge will be to make this expertise compatible with the speed of the platforms without transforming Vogue into a mere commentator on viral trends.
Emerging creators: an editorial as well as an economic challenge
Much of Vogue's historical legitimacy rests on its ability to identify talent before it becomes obvious. In the age of streaming platforms, this function is even more strategic.
Instagram and TikTok now allow a young brand to gain international visibility in just a few days. But visibility doesn't necessarily mean credibility, distribution, or economic viability.
A media outlet like Vogue can provide something that algorithms struggle to produce: context. Why is this cut new? What historical reference does it reinterpret? Which workshop produced the garment? What vision does the designer offer? How does this aesthetic fit into the broader transformations of the industry?
This mediating role is essential for emerging designers. It also ties into the issues we explored in our analysis of Fashion Week and emerging brands : in a market saturated with images, simply being seen is no longer enough. One must become legible. Vogue's challenge will therefore be less about multiplying discoveries than about selecting the talents capable of presenting a sufficiently strong cultural vision to warrant attention.
From prescriptive media to conversational media
One of the most profound transformations concerns the relationship with the reader. For several decades, the power of a fashion magazine rested in part on its distance: the editorial staff selected, photographed, featured, and then published.
Platforms have changed this relationship. Readers comment, share, reply, remix, and sometimes instantly challenge the narrative presented. A cover is no longer just viewed at a newsstand; it becomes a topic of conversation on dozens of platforms.
The development of curated newsletters, podcasts, videos, and events allows Vogue to build a more consistent relationship with its audience. This community dimension doesn't mean the institution should relinquish its critical judgment. On the contrary: when anyone can publish, the value of a premium media outlet lies precisely in its ability to make a selection. Conversation, therefore, doesn't replace curation; it extends it.
Chloe Malle's first September Issue, a symbol of a new era
In Vogue's culture, few events carry the symbolic weight of the September issue. On August 13, 2026, Vogue presented the first September Issue, overseen by Chloe Malle as Head of Editorial Content. The cover features Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere photographed by Steven Meisel. The choice is significant because it encapsulates several dimensions of Vogue's approach: auteur photography, fashion culture, celebrity, visual heritage, and playful references to the magazine's archives.
The issue also features Demna at Gucci, Marta Ortega and Zara, conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Fashion remains the central focus, but Vogue continues to situate it within a broader cultural context.
This is probably where one of the main differences between a specialist media outlet and a social platform lies: the ability to connect clothing to the world that produces it.
Anna Wintour retains a considerable role
Therefore, talking about "post-Wintour" requires a nuance. Anna Wintour has not disappeared from Vogue.
The official 2026 masthead still lists her as Global Editorial Director, while Chloe Malle appears as Head of Editorial Content. Wintour also continues to concentrate some of the exceptional relational and cultural capital built around Vogue and Condé Nast.
This system potentially allows the group to preserve two assets at the same time:
- the authority and network associated with Anna Wintour;
- an operational management capable of experimenting with new formats with Chloe Malle.
Success, however, will depend on the clarity of this governance. In a publishing brand so strongly associated with a personality, establishing a new signature without creating symbolic competition is always a delicate exercise.
Why is this transformation of interest to the entire luxury industry?
The appointment of Chloé Malle extends far beyond the walls of Condé Nast. Major fashion houses closely observe the media outlets capable of generating cultural attention around a runway show, an artistic director, or a new campaign. In the luxury business, editorial content plays a considerable indirect economic role. A cover story, a profile, or an analysis can accelerate the recognition of a talent, legitimize an aesthetic, or position a collection within a global conversation.
This is why media evolution must be analyzed in conjunction with broader transformations in creative fields. Our feature on the new frontiers of fashion demonstrates precisely how the geography of talent, technologies, and new modes of storytelling are simultaneously transforming the industry.
For fashion houses, Vogue remains more than just a communication channel: it is a space where part of the cultural capital of luxury.
Chloe Malle's real challenge: transforming authority into preference
In the short term, three challenges emerge.
Maintaining editorial standards
Vogue must continue to produce photographs, investigations, interviews and analyses ambitious enough to justify its position in the media hierarchy.
In a world saturated with free content, value comes less from quantity than from qualitative difference.
Building a direct relationship with the audience
Platforms are powerful relays, but they remain intermediaries.
Direct traffic, subscriptions, newsletters, the app, and events allow the media outlet to have greater control over its relationship with its audience. The doubling of direct traffic announced during Chloe Malle's stint at Vogue.com therefore takes on particular strategic importance.
Monetizing without damaging trust
Luxury has historically been a key advertiser in the fashion press. But as the lines blur between content, commerce, events and partnerships, editorial transparency becomes increasingly important.
The challenge will be to develop the Vogue ecosystem without commercial logic reducing the media outlet's ability to exercise its own judgment.
Can Vogue still create trends?
The answer depends on what we mean by "creating." No single media outlet currently holds a monopoly on trends. An aesthetic can emerge in Seoul, Lagos, Paris, or Copenhagen, circulate on TikTok, be adopted by a celebrity, and then reach the catwalks without following the traditional trajectory of the fashion press.
But in this constant acceleration, a media outlet like Vogue retains another form of power: that of naming, connecting, and inscribing in time. Algorithms detect what attracts attention.
An editorial team can explain why this matters. This difference could become even more valuable as automatically generated content and algorithmic recommendations proliferate.
A Vogue that is less common in print, but omnipresent elsewhere
The strategy emerging under Chloé Malle doesn't ultimately pit heritage against digital. Rather, it seems to redistribute their uses. Print becomes rarer, thicker, and more collectible. Digital absorbs current events and fast-paced formats.
Video creates a sense of closeness. Podcasts foster long-form conversations. Newsletters build personal relationships with readers. Events like the Met Gala or Vogue World transform the media outlet into a producer of cultural experiences. And Vogue.com is gradually becoming the platform capable of uniting multiple audiences around a single brand. This structure resembles less the magazine of the 20th century and more a global media empire.
Chloe Malle now has to prove that an institution can remain desirable
The appointment of Chloé Malle is not just a matter of succession. It raises a deeper question about the power of the media in contemporary fashion.
Can Vogue remain a benchmark in a world where everyone has their own editorial line? Can it maintain its authority while becoming more accessible? Can it champion long-form journalism while participating in instant conversations? Can it support print while accelerating the digital revolution?
The initial moves give a clear indication: the strategy is not to abandon Anna Wintour's legacy, but to redistribute that legacy across multiple formats, audiences, and timeframes.
Chloé Malle now faces the most difficult task: transforming a brand everyone knows into a medium that new generations continue to choose. And in today's attention economy, being chosen has perhaps become the most precious form of luxury.
FAQ: Chloe Malle and the new direction of Vogue US
When did Chloe Malle take over as head of Vogue US?
Chloe Malle has been appointed Head of Editorial Content at Vogue US on September 2, 2025, effective immediately.
Has Chloe Malle replaced Anna Wintour?
She has resumed the daily editorial direction of Vogue US, but Anna Wintour remains Global Editorial Director of Vogue and Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast. Therefore, it is not a complete replacement.
What was Chloe Malle's position before Vogue US?
Chloe Malle had been running Vogue.com since 2023 and co-hosting the podcast The Run-Through with VogueShe had worked at Vogue since 2011.
What is Vogue's strategy for the print magazine in 2026?
In the United States, Vogue moved to eight print editions per year by 2026, with larger issues positioned more as premium and collectible items.
What role does Chloe Malle play with Teen Vogue?
Since the announcement on November 3, 2025, Teen Vogue has been integrated into the Vogue.com ecosystem while retaining its editorial identity. Chloe Malle also oversees the title.
Official French sources
- Vogue France – “Chloe Malle becomes Head of Editorial Content at Vogue US.” Official source from the French edition of Vogue.
- Ministry of Culture – “The digital transformation of the press sector” on the evolution of uses, platforms and economic models of the press.
- ACPM – Official data from Vogue France, with an LDP audience of 1,499,000 people in the first half of 2026 and a paid circulation in France of 90,073 copies in 2025.
