Top 60 Anna Wintour Quotes

It would be ridiculous to ignore the speed and possibilities of the digital landscape – you absolutely need to have fast-moving news online, but if you want to build a large audience over time, you absolutely have to take a risk on the big challenging stuff.

Even if you aren’t sure of yourself, pretend that you are… most people prevaricate.

I’ve never worn a hoodie before!

We are in a gender-fluid generation.

I’m always looking for a cover subject that reflects the magazine, an interest in fashion, in culture, in society. We’re trying to bring the world into the pages of ‘Vogue.’ We do that by tapping into the zeitgeists with our cover subjects.

Traditionally, those that work in fashion have always had the point of view that items made by hand have their own aura and are something special.

I don’t really follow market research. In the end, I respond to my own instincts.

I’m very good at delegating – people work much better when they have a real sense of responsibility. But at the same time, I don’t like surprises. I don’t pore over every shoot, but I do like to be aware at all times of what’s going on.

I think it would be incredible for this country if we could have our first woman president.

‘Vogue’ is a fashion magazine, and a fashion magazine is about change.

Western design houses have been exploring China in terms of investment for well over a decade.

I think of young Chinese women today as being incredibly modern and are taking a lot from Western style and tailoring.

I think it’s very important for children to understand that women work and that it’s fulfilling, and it doesn’t mean that they love you any less or care about you any less.

Things change. You walk on the street and get a Starbucks, and things have changed by the time you come back to the office.

I’m horribly hands-on, I’m afraid. I like to read every caption.

I surround myself with a talented group of people that are opinionated and interesting. I try to remain very open to what others have to say.

We have to reflect the world that we live in.

I don’t have a high-powered life out of work. I like to go to the country for the weekend with the kids and the dog and play tennis. I am very good at turning off.

One doesn’t want fashion to look ridiculous, silly, or out of step with the times – but you do want designers that make you think, that make you look at fashion differently. That’s how fashion changes. If it doesn’t change, it’s not looking forward. And that’s important to me.

It would be a mistake to think something is wonderful just because it looks great.

It’s important for young women and men coming out of the fashion schools to think seriously before starting their own collections.

I hear the same anxieties over and over again. Everything is too fast; everything is too precarious. We have more access than ever to the people we are trying to reach, thanks to social media and mobile technology, and more information than we know what to do with.

For my very first September issue, I put Naomi Campbell on the cover. She was wearing this orange Anne Klein sequin suit – it would probably look incredibly ’80s today.

Fashion today is available to everybody in a way that it’s never been before: you’ve got every designer you’ve ever heard of working for H& or Target. That’s fantastic.

I don’t understand that if you look wonderful, does that make you less important, less powerful, less serious?

I hope that President-elect Trump will be a successful president for us all.

I love coming in and changing magazines.

Those who want things always to stay the same are not living in the real world.

The elitist way of looking on the runway, frankly, seems old fashioned.

To be in ‘Vogue’ has to mean something. It’s an endorsement. It’s a validation.

I am very lucky in my team. They sit opposite me, and I get to see them every day sitting there staring at the seating chart, not doing much. It is almost like a chess game.

Trump’s foundation has done nothing. Its board is packed with relatives, and he’s going to use his presidency to sell himself and his brand and profit personally for himself and his family.

In the fact that ‘Vogue’ is someone that can help guide enormous audiences through this fascinating world, I would like to think we are as influential and actually are now reaching so many more people than we ever dreamt of back in the Fifties or the Sixties.

Of course there were times, particularly when you travel, when it’s very tough to leave the kids, particularly when they were very young. I would try to take them with me when I could just so they could experience and see a little bit of what a work day involved.

By the time I came to the States, I really understood how a magazine works. I came to ‘Vogue’ as creative director, and three years later I went back to London to be editor in chief of British ‘Vogue.’

I think possibly what people working for one hate the most is indecision. Even if I’m completely unsure, I’ll pretend I know exactly what I’m talking about and make a decision. The most important thing I can do is try and make myself very clearly understood.

In the end I do respond to my own instincts. Sometimes they’re successful, and obviously sometimes they’re not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.

I can’t make anything. I don’t know how to make a dress. I couldn’t go on a shoot and create an image. I can’t write a script. I have so much admiration for people who can do these things, because I would have no idea where to start.

To be famous these days with no grounding and no substance is not especially difficult. I urge you instead to seek to be relevant, to be agile and educated.

I have learned that documentary makers are incredibly sneaky people.

I want ‘Vogue’ to be pacy, sharp, and sexy – I’m not interested in the super-rich or infinitely leisured. I want our readers to be energetic executive women, with money of their own and a wide range of interests. There is a new kind of woman out there. She’s interested in business and money.

Previous first ladies seemed to feel the need to wear a sort of uniform, whereas Michelle Obama likes fashion and is very comfortable in fashion. She’s happy to mix high and low, and she loves emerging designers. That will do nothing but good for our industry.

After a series of jobs that I prefer not to recall, I was hired in the early eighties as fashion editor of ‘New York’ magazine.

‘Vogue’ and ‘Vice’ may appear to some to see the world through different lenses. But in my view, both are fearless and breathtaking, with unquenchable curiosity and vigor.

If my style is too direct for some, maybe they should toughen up a bit.

I went to Wimbledon before I could walk. It’s just been a lifelong passion.

‘Vogue’ has a history of picking up on various TV shows that reflect a moment in popular culture, whether it’s putting Lena Dunham on the cover or Sarah Jessica Parker.

The beauty of what Apple does at Apple is that they’re not on trend; they are classic.

It is true that a lot of people are easily distracted online. As a result, too many of us have given up on digital audiences for ambitious work, and this is a mistake.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the speed and spectacle in today’s fashion industry, because they seem to mirror stresses in other creative fields.

My career got off to a very shaky start when I dropped out of school at the age of 18. Despite my lack of academic credentials, I got a job as a fashion assistant at ‘Harper’s & Queen.’

I’d always been extremely fascinated by the French Nuit Blanche, which is a weekend that they have in Paris where they keep all the museums open until dawn. You can go and hang out in Versailles in the middle of the night and watch the sun come up.

My first job in the States was as a junior fashion editor at ‘Harper’s Bazaar,’ which I enjoyed, but not for all that long because I was fired by the editor in chief, who told me that I was too ‘European.’

I think we’re living, in terms of media, in a very democratic age, but I think that we still look at everything through the lens of ‘Vogue’ and through our own point of view.

Part of the pleasure of editing ‘Vogue,’ one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.

I have such an extraordinary platform where I am able to help people. To me, that’s the number one priority.

Print publications have to be as luxurious an experience as possible. You have to feel it coming off the page. You have to see photographs and pieces that you couldn’t possibly see anywhere else.

I never pay any attention. I’m sure it’s not such a good way to be, but I don’t really follow market research.

I feel it would be a huge mistake for ‘Vogue’ always to be completely tasteful, completely perfect. I think it’s very important for us to also rock the boat.

It is important always to have really original talent. There are lots of good designers that make attractive clothes and make women look beautiful. But at the same time, one doesn’t want to lose the idea that there is someone out there who can change the way you look at fashion.