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By (author) Odell Amy

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This definitive biography of Anna Wintour chronicles the steep climb of an ambitious young woman who would, with singular and legendary focus, become the most powerful woman in media.

”Fascinating” Sunday Times

”Deeply sourced and rich with anecdotes” The Times

”Like a nonfiction version of The Devil Wears Prada” Elizabeth Day

”Odell”s extensive reporting dredges up a wealth of delightful details” New York Times

This definitive biography of Anna Wintour chronicles the steep climb of an ambitious young woman who would, with singular and legendary focus, become the most powerful woman in media.

As a child, Anna Wintour was a tomboy with no apparent interest in clothing but, seduced by the miniskirts and bob haircuts of swinging 1960s London, she grew into a fashion-obsessed teenager. Her father, the influential editor of the Evening Standard, loomed large in her life, and once he decided she should become editor in chief of Vogue, she never looked back.

Impatient to start her career, she left high school and got a job at a fashionable boutique in London – an experience that would be the first of many defeats. Undeterred, she found work in the competitive world of magazines, eventually moving to New York. Before long, Anna”s journey to Vogue became a battle to ascend, no matter who or what stood in her way. Once she was crowned editor in chief – in one of the stormiest transitions in fashion magazine history – she continued the fight to retain her enviable position, ultimately rising to dominate all of Condé Nast.

Based on extensive interviews with Anna Wintour”s closest friends and collaborators, including some of the biggest names in fashion, journalist Amy Odell has crafted the most revealing portrait of Wintour ever published. Weaving Anna”s personal story into a larger narrative about the hierarchical dynamics of the fashion industry and the complex world of Condé Nast, Anna charts the relentless ambition of the woman who would become an icon.

Table of contents
1: Origins 2: Beyond School Uniforms 3: Fired and Hired 4: Anna Wintour, Fashion Assistant 5: A New Start in New York City 6: Viva la Vida 7: A Savvy Move 8: In Vogue 9: Second Best 10: A Tale of Two Vogues 11: House & Garment 12: Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief 13: Calculated Risk 14: “In” versus “Out” 15: First Assistant, Second Assistant 16: A New Project, an Old Friend 17: Follow the Money 18: The Divorce 19: Dot.Com 20: A New Alliance 21: Mutual Benefit 22: Big Vogue 23: The Crash 24: Politics and Pain 25: Anna Wintour, Artistic Director 26: Changes 27: The Met Gala Epilogue: The Pandemic

Review quote
Like a nonfiction version of The Devil Wears Prada

Review quote
An
impressively
detailed portrait that reveals much about Wintour”s management style and early career

Review quote

Fascinating

Review quote
Odell”s book is
deeply sourced and rich
with anecdotes. Although she”s clearly sympathetic to her subject, she”s direct in addressing Wintour”s missteps.

Review quote
Odell”s extensive reporting dredges up
a wealth of delightful details…You”ll walk away knowing every step – and misstep – in Wintour”s famous ascent to the heights of magazinedom.

Review quote
The secret to [Anna”s] longevity is the subject of Odell”s biography, which is drawn from interviews with Wintour”s tightknit inner circle. Given that she”s famously private and notoriously aloof, the participation of intimates in the book”s reporting indicates a green light from Wintour herself. But
Odell i