Anna Wintour is the British born editor-in-chief of American Vogue and
arguably one of the most influential women in the world-wide fashion
industry. She has held the position of Editor-in-Chief
for nearly 25 years and there is one Director that has been with Anna since she
started back in 1988: Grace
Coddington.
The other night a good friend and I decided that we were in need of a
movie night after tolerating one of those rare Southern California weekends
where the haze never seemed to burn off.
We wanted to be inspired and to watch something that spoke to us as
young and modern women, so we popped in The September Issue. Based on the trailers and buzz from when it
first aired a couple of years ago, we were expecting an insightful bio-pic on
the life of Anna Wintour. What we found
was a story of passion, tension and brilliance between two women: Anna and Grace.
Anna is infamous for her stoic presence and brilliant ability to lead a
magazine through multiple generations while keeping it current and
influential. One of the early scenes in
the film depicts an annual meeting between the lead editors at Vogue and the
top management, including the CEO, of Neiman Marcus. It is clear that Anna is more than a magazine
editor. She influences a significant
portion of the retail economy by driving trends, highlighting designers, and
then telling major brands and department stores what will drive their bottom
line this year. Will it be stripes? Will it be color blocking? Will it be Thakoon? She has the answers and the CEO of Neiman
Marcus eagerly awaits her insight.
Another scene flashes to the media frenzy surrounding Thakoon's stint
as a guest designer working for The Gap.
His objective was to re-work the plain white shirt so that it maintains
its simple elegance, but perhaps with a bit more interesting detail and design. At the launch party Anna whispers
congratulatory remarks about his success and states that she has heard that all
of the online supply sold out on the first day.
The entire online supply for shirts by Thakoon sold by The Gap were SOLD
OUT. That equals millions and millions
of dollars of sales for a publicly traded company. Guess who placed Thakoon in that consulting
role? Anna.
By now you are hopefully realizing the influence and power that this
petite fashion icon has on not only the pages that are displayed in her
magazine, but on the greater world economy.
And while I found Anna delightfully brilliant in how she runs her
business, I was most taken by the role of Grace Coddington. She is the Creative Director at Vogue and has
an incredible ability to bring together the most stunning photographs. It was more than her glaring talent that
stood out in the film; it was the fact that she was the only one who ever
talked back to Anna. At one point she is
conversing with a editor wallowing in defeat as he had just come out of a
meeting with Anna in which all of his 'looks' were frowned upon, and she says
to him: "You have to be strong,
otherwise you could get blamed." Utter
brilliance.
So often I take to heart the feedback and opinions of others on my work
and then second guess my own abilities.
My intentions are not to overlook or brush aside the constructive
criticism that helps us learn and grow.
More simply, Grace's quote made me realize that we have to be strong and
stand up for what we believe in to be right. If we fade into the background or worse, we
sulk, then if things do not go as planned we could find ourselves victim to the
cause of such disaster.
It is a new week and a fresh start.
I am looking forward to marching ahead with conviction and passion for
what I know myself to be capable of and good at if I just put my mind to it. I encourage you to do the same and keep in
mind: "You have to be strong, otherwise
you could get blamed." After all,
didn't Meryl Streep tip her glasses to Anne Hathaway at the end of 'The Devil
Wears Prada' in recognition of the girl that stood up for what she believed to
be true and right in her heart?
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