Anna Wintour Q&A at the Oxford Union

um so now we have time for a Q&A session so I'm just going to open with a couple of questions very intelligent questions yeah very intelligent questions and insightful ones um so I'll ask a couple and then I'll open it up to the floor um so my first question is who has been your favorite ever cover subject and why uh well I think the next one I I am not a believer in in in looking back but I have a few personal favorites one is my very first cover at American Vogue which was considered quite revolutionary at the time it was um a girl wearing a Christian laqua uh T-shirt with a cross on it and blue jeans and this was shocking back then a tiny bit of stomach showing and in fact when we sent it to to the printers the printers called up and asked us if we had made a mistake so I do I do have a a soft spot in my heart for that particular cover and I was just wondering um how did it feel to move Vogue uh to the World Trade Center well it was very moving we we look directly onto the memorial which is absolutely extraordinary for those of you who have not seen it and I think it was also very very emotional I a lot of the the building was also completely empty you know it's a 80 uh two floor building and there was no one inside it except for Vogue so it was also a little bit spooky as you can imagine but kast has always been um very forward thinking in where they they they move their offices and once the city had heard that we were moving down there a lot of other people did which is obviously great for for the neighborhood and the investment in that particular area because it has been somewhat of a ghost town for so many years but having come from Time Square which is this amazing mass of humanity uh with everyone from the Naked Cowboy do you know who the nak Cowboy is but you know he's a man in the in the middle of winter in a in underwear taking your picture and this sort of mass of humanity to something that was very very quiet and Silent it was a little bit lonely at the beginning but we're we're all adjusting I wish there were more Starbucks and now we have time for questions from the audience so if you put your hand up I'll try and um soon will be coming around with the microphone um say the gentleman in the front row hello hi um hello um about I'm I'm oot tamay sorry oot tamaray okay um hi um about two years ago um Andre leonal also came to talk at the union and he said um he said something about he said something rather nostalgic which was the old days of Glamour or gone pointed sort of um Studio 54 and a bunch of Andre's a bit prone to exaggeration as you probably gathered so I was just wondering what you thought about um sort of Glamour and aesthetic now as as opposed to I think Studio 54 was really overrated and I don't go to nightclubs anymore so I can't help you um no no my my question was sort to do with um what do you think about when people speak sort of in very nostalgic terms about Glamour and aesthetic do you think is qualitatively different from what it used to be in a sort of negative way no it's just different I mean I work in a world of fashion as does Andre and you can't work in the world of fashion and and always look backwards you have to look forwards of course the past informs the present and the future but it's a totally different world in a way a much more challenging and interesting world than uh frankly the days of Studio 54 because so many more things are possible and fashion is so much more democratic and open to everybody it is a closed door and you're standing outside on the ropes and nobody will let you in everybody's now invited to the party and how exciting is that how did you build up uh vogue's online presence slowly slowly I mean we made terrible mistakes at the beginning I I I think that we were incredibly naive and thought that uh all you had to do was to take the print publication and put it online and that was you know obviously not the right way to think so now we have a completely dedicated team that just works on on on the website and mobile and social media that's completely separate I mean we obviously communicate backwards and forwards unlike the fabric editor and the shoe editor but uh we we talk to each other but it's it's a much more different it's a completely different skill set and a different sensibility and uh as a result overseeing both I I try to make both as different as possible and as I was talking about in my remarks you know I'm thinking more and more to make the the pr print publication much more special better paper more luxurious an experience that you could couldn't possibly have online and that you know what we whatever we do on the website or on mobile has to be much more immediate and busy and happening all the time and responding as fast as we can quickly as we can to current events you do you do so many really interesting things outside your re room of editor and chief of Vogue can you tell me what what your um thought princes were in deciding to establish their cfda and the Vue fashion fund Yes actually it goes back to um where we currently have our offices uh none of you will know this but September the 11th actually happened on the on the you know very minor occurrence but it happened on the on the first day of New York Fashion Week and as the week unraveled in its horror I I realized I got so so many calls from Young designers saying that they had lost everything because they had put down the deposits to have their shows and obviously now all the shows were cancelled and at the same time everybody at the magazine was completely paralyzed very understandably and really unable to work so uh after a few days I decided the best thing was to try and engage everybody and try to help so we called around to all the young designers and put together a fashion show with you know a couple of weeks afterwards and out of that experience I realized how incredibly hand to mouth the existence of the young designers in New York was so we set up the cfda Vogue fashion fund after that and we I think we have about $25 million now in the endowment and we have hundreds and hundreds of designers that apply every year and we narrow that down to um 10 finalists and then after about six or nine months of evaluation we hand out three prizes to the finalists which uh includes cash uh a cash prize and mentorship with a industry leader and I think through the fund you've seen the landscape of New York Fashion completely changed I mean back at September the 11th it was Ralph Lauren and and Calvin Klein and Don and Karen now it's a completely different mix um hello Anna hello my name is Carl anglim yes oord Fashion Week is taking place this week and the headlining show features 3D printed designs how do you think technology will change fashion well I think it it's going back to what I was talking to the young man over there before I mean I think everybody's fascinated by technology and what it means and you you can see more and more um Fabrics being used that um involve technology you see more and more computer generated prints um e-commerce has changed the way everybody shops so I I think that there's as always in culture technology of you know fashion is influenced by the culture around it so I think technology is is really on the top of every designer's mind and the anything that concerns me there is so much design today is done by computer and less and less uh by designers who actually know how to draw and to drape and I just I do I am concerned that it's going to become a little bit too generic okay for the gentleman in the front r hi Anna hello what's your name my name's Leo Leo okay you talked about big corporations and I think maybe one of the problems with leaders in big corporations is they're in meetings all day and they're never by themselves true I totally agree it's a good good start to the question then so um my question is do you make time to just sit down and think and be creative just you and if you do how do you do it how do you work is it with notes is it with a computer um I'm afraid I'm a really bad example of that I I don't um make notes uh I I don't uh I I react very instinctively to everything I I'm a great believer in traveling a great deal I don't believe meetings more than two people in a meeting is too many um I really it's true do you know about standups okay so in Silicone Valley now when you have a meeting everybody stands in a circle like they're meditating and that's that's how maybe I should try that um I I think the more you go out the more you see the more you experience life the more you bring back to your day job so as I was trying to say in my remarks I think the problem about big corporations is you get a lot of um people my age trying to hold on to their jobs and uh you know Clinging On to uh their pensions and their retirement and they're not experiencing new things and they don't like change and they don't like disruption so they're they don't make a decision or they say no and as a result they stagnate so it's terribly important to bring people in from the outside and not to remain too insula and also to hire as many young bright people like all of you as you can just to teach you how to think about things completely differently we just go for the lady in the front r hi Gina um we met hi um just on the on the on the topic sorry um on the topic of leadership um I'm just wondering what you think obviously there is the debate on whether great leaders should be loved or should be feared and I'm just wondering what you think on that topic I think hopefully both no I think Clarity is the most important thing in you okay I think Clarity is the most import one of the most important leadership qualities that one can have I I think it's really important to be very specific and very clear in what you expect and then to delegate people respond much better when they're in a more independent environment and you're not completely breathing down their their neck all the time the other thing I think is incredibly important is to hire Divas like Andre Leon Tali who will disagree with you and contradict you and not yes you all the time time and not to be scared of have people of having people working with you that have different opinions um we go for the lady just at the end of the bench hello hi hello what's your name um Laura Laura hello Laura um I'm going to be bit cheeky I've got two questions they're quite short though um the first one you look absolutely amazing who are you wearing what am I wearing oh okay well my jacket is Christopher B for Burber and this is Valentino oh brilliant thank you it it's a very easy question sorry not highly intelligent either um then my actual question was um so the devil we Prada as Miranda Bry was kind of based around you sorry were you like expecting this um could you kind of identify any of yourself in that character uh well I really enjoy the movie uh I I think everyone should be extremely honored to be played by Merill Street and um uh I I found it highly amusing um should go here CA the lady in the red jacket hi Anna I'm Stephanie um one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the economic downturn around 2008 was the way which um Publications all over New York were affected um in their readership and sizes but it was interesting to see that K Nast fared better than most and I was wondering what you thought the reasons for that were well I I think in in times of hardship people tend to turn to what's familiar and what is known and obviously kast uh enjoys a leadership position in in in terms of publishing so I I think there was a familiarity and a strength to all the Publications also we have very very smart people working at the company who understood the situation and and and dealt with it very effectively and I think we were also extremely proactive we didn't sort of sit there and ring our hands and say God this is awful what should we do we actually went out there and tried to help people and had tried to re-energize them and and and try to give them some hope in some direction without you know trying trying to sound too poana I think we to be proactive in times of hardship is the most important thing did you ever deliberate taking uh the position of artistic director at cond no um sorry can we just go to the lady in the pink jacket hi I'm Olivia um what's your name Olivia Olivia I'm just wondering do you think that there is greater gender equality in fashion in the fashion industry I wish there were more women designers okay I I was I I feel that they're just simply not enough I I I I don't understand it um was that is that your question or yeah cuz it's kind of like obviously you know like feminism at the minute that still the Equal Pay um is still kind of a big prevailing issue so did you rise to your feet with Patricia ret and um I was remember just discussing it and like one of my friends like made off hand remarks saying oh but like Fashions where women are really respected and I was wondering if you thought that true I I do think there are many more women working in fashion than possibly in other Industries it's absolutely your friend is absolutely right and I do think the is actually equal pay in in in terms of uh of that question but I don't think there are enough creative leaders and I was actually very encouraged to hear from my my team I sadly missed British Fashion Week this time but I I heard from my team that there was definitely a rise in the young uh women fashion designers in London I was very encouraged to hear that hi Anna nice to meet you my name is Janette thank you for coming and my question is um what are you most grateful for today I'm sorry I couldn't hear you what are you most grateful for today my children any anything else no yeah hi um so I've been what's your name oh Kate Kate Hi um so I do some student journalism uh student fashion journalism here Etc and what I've encountered a lot of when applying for funding from for Arts funds or journalism funds is that people are very dismissive of fashion journalism and I know isn't it annoying exactly and there's just this overarching feeling from some quarters that it's quite frivolous and I was wondering what your answer would be to that absolutely well I always point out what a huge uh business it is how many jobs it gives people um how it's a question of self-respect and just because you happen to enjoy dressing well doesn't mean that you're an idiot and uh I I think it's uh it's very important to come out very strongly in favor of the fact that this is an enormous business that employs millions and millions of people all over the world and yes there is a glamorous and um extremely pleasurable side to it but also it's it's very hard economics okay the gentleman in the front row hello Anna hi what's your name my name is Jake and I was I was wondering is there any woman from history if you could pick one that you would like to have on the cover of Vogue and why well we deal with the future I see I I was afraid of that um we just have time for a couple more questions now so um we'll take one right from the back the lady in the middle hi I'm Lully um my question is what role if any I hear your name uh Lully okay uh my question is what role if any should sustainability play in high fashion I mean I think it's something that uh businesses all over in throughout the fashion industry are becoming more and more aware of I give a lot of credit to your own designer Stella mcartney who's really led the charge in that to a large degree and I I absolutely think it's important and and you're I think you're seeing that a lot more companies caring who is the company that Stella works with is certainly changing all their business practices and I'm hoping that a lot will uh follow suit it's a really good question hi yeah my name is Maria lovely to meet you um with your at the beginning of your speech you said that it's um very important to stay relevant and C current hence I guess your decision to put kimy on the cover of Vogue so do you now here last week pardon yes yeah so do you now think that the the the age of putting super models on covers is dying to putting more tangible actresses or or singers to you know to attract attention well celebrity culture has been with us for very very long time I mean it's plum how long ago is it since we put Madonna on the cover I mean forever right so I don't think that this is necessarily a new thing I I think it's much more to do with um putting a mix of people on the cover our current cover right now is Taylor Swift and Karly clth one is a musician one is a super model so I think that everybody can coexist together it's not about one thing or the other it's about the mix perfect um and just two more questions now so go for lady um and the glasses just that thank you hi Anna my name is Tori Tori um I was wondering if you had any fundamental fashion tips for young professional women yeah absolutely you got to not dress like a young professional women I just dress as yourself that's a great tip thank you hi I'm Emma my question is about the role of the designer and sorry my question is about the role of the designer and whether you sometimes think that designers when they become celebrities can overshadow kind of their creative output or you think it's really important for their brand or I wondering where you see their Ro that entirely depends on the the individual I mean you you have someone like Carl leld who's in his 80 who thrives on being a mega celebrity I think his cat has millions of Instagram followers I mean he just loves it and I see no sense of his any of his work suffering whatsoever and then you have an enigma like Hy slain who is the designer for is Sal who never hardly ever appears in public doesn't like to have his picture taken uh and disappears the minute his show is over but also very very successful I so I think it's very much an individual decision and uh either can work probably more more in the car Lan than than H though um one more yeah just one more question um we'll go he's been very p okay what's your name my name is Michael Heim Marsh um I just wanted to ask about a point you made during your very interesting speech um about celebrity culture you said that uh you know you can become famous without having any substance and um I was just wondering whether you see the fact that celebrity culture seems to be more about personality as opposed to uh skills and intellectual ability do you see that as a positive development um I think I just want to go back to what I said in my remarks is that I think it is quite easy to become well known not always for the right reasons today and I strongly advise actually getting a little bit of substance under your belt before you become famous because Fame doesn't necessarily translate into success and I think that that is a mistake that I've seen many many people make particularly recently well unfortunately that's all we have time for thank you so much for having me but we have just a gift from the union for you before we um before we pass it this just a gift just from all of us to just say thank you so much for coming thank you lovely thank you so much

Channel: OxfordUnion

Views: 498,147

Keywords: Union, Society, University, Debates, Debating, Interview, Anna Wintour, Vogue, Anna, Wintour, fashion, burberry, fashion show, magazine, journalist, editor, talk, q&a, speech

Id: zxBuBJ4cO-4

Length: 23min 34sec (1414 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 03 2015