Victory for Dame Anna Wintour in the battle for British Vogue as Chioma Nnadi becomes head of the magazine… but she won’t get the title of editor
- Chioma Nnadi will replace Edward Enninful, the current outgoing editor-in-chief
- She will be the first Black woman to hold the position, but will have a different title
The new head of British Vogue will not hold the title of editor for the first time, raising fears the magazine has been downgraded.
Chioma Nnadi replaces Edward Enninful, the outgoing editor-in-chief, publisher Conde Nast announced yesterday.
She will be the first Black woman to hold the job. But London-born Nnadi, 44, who is currently editor of the fashion magazine’s US website, will only have the title of head of editorial content.
The change could be seen by some as a downgrade from British Vogue, which first hit newsstands more than a century ago, and signals the growing control of director Dame Anna Wintour.
London-born Chioma Nnadi (pictured) will be the first black woman to hold the job
In 2020, Dame Anna, 73, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, took control of its global editorial operations.
Fashion industry insiders claim the restructuring has resulted in departures from Vogue’s international editions and the appointment of new editors-in-chief with fewer local profiles.
A Conde Nast source said yesterday: “Editorial leaders across all markets and titles have held the title of ‘Head of Editorial Content’ since 2020, when we implemented a global editorial transformation of brands.” Ms Nnadi said she was “honoured” by the appointment.
The change could be seen by some as a downgrade from British Vogue, which first hit newsstands more than a century ago, and signals the growing control of director Dame Anna Wintour (pictured)
Born to a Swiss-German nurse and a Nigerian father who came to Britain to study in the 1960s, Ms Nnadi started her career at the headquarters of the Evening Standard before moving to New York to write for Trace, an independent style magazine. .
She then worked at music publication Fader. She started as a writer at Vogue in 2010 before becoming fashion news director and then Vogue.com editor.
Ms Nnadi will start her new role on October 9 and will be based in London. Enninful, 51, announced in June that he would leave the post after six years.
A source told the Mail last week: ‘One of the big differences between Edward and Anna was that he wanted to make the magazine gender neutral, while Anna was adamant that it would always remain a women’s magazine.’ Mr Enninful yesterday said Ms Nnadi had a “real vision”.
