MasterClass Live with Anna Wintour | MasterClass

hi everyone welcome to master class live this is our weekly series that allows you to connect directly and go deeper with our instructors for those of you new to our community master class is a place where you can learn from the world's best you can learn about writing a book making a first-class meal or becoming a better negotiator our catalog has more than 80 classes with masters like Spike Lee Natalie Portman and David Sedaris and today I'm so excited to welcome the incredible Anna Wintour to master class live and has held the position of editor-in-chief for Vogue for more than three decades was named the artistic director of Conde Nast in 2013 and most recently was appointed global content advisor of Conde Nast last year and I graciously opened her doors to us and took us inside her world for her masterclass on creativity and leadership she's doing today by the incredible international editor-at-large at Vogue Hamish Bowles who's doing us the honor of interviewing Anna tonight and asking some of the questions you are masterclass community submitted for Anna to answer tonight and in Hamish welcome and thank you both for being here thank you thank you for having us I think you chose me thank you for having us good evening Anna I hope you're doing well and we're all broadcasting from different locations given the current circumstances how much I have to say I love your coordinated bowtie with your name thank you I like a little bit of lilac - okay thank you so and I'm not going to ask you how many zoom meetings I'm going to ask you whether there was something in particular that motivated you to want to teach a master class well I think as you well know Hamish we are asked continuously both by young designers and students and young people who want to enter either the world of fashion design or fashion journalism or just journalism for advice and counsel and [Music] suggestions about how they might become part of the world that you and I love so much so it felt to me that doing masterclass which does such a fantastic job was an amazing opportunity to share many of the things that that I've learned over so many years particularly when it comes to helping young designers and young editors and young journalists young photographers everybody that works within our world about how they might embark on a career hmm and I wonder why you decided to focus specifically on the on the ideas of creativity and leadership for the class well I I think that there are very good pairing that I think that if you are leader part of what you have to do is is to recognize creativity and embrace creativity and also lead with it I mean I think when I look back on some of the initiatives that we've worked on so closely together Hamish over the years and particularly something like the CFDA vogue fashion fan which we've just repurposed into a common thread that that came out of you know tragic circumstances after September the 11th when we saw how hand-to-mouth the existence of young designers in New York really was and and how we wanted to really use our position our platform at Vogue to help them and now we are doing something very similar with a common thread which is an initiative that Tom Ford who is now president of the CFDA and the CFDA in vogue have started about I guess about three months ago right after we went into the pandemic when we realized yet again how young designers and retailers and people within our industry were really not knowing how to pay the rent or how to get through the next few months when they had absolutely no revenue coming in and we realized of course that we could not be a bailout thank God for Chuck Schumer and and Nancy Pelosi but we were at least able to help and to support and to raise money to to give a degree of grants that would would help them get through the next you know very difficult time how did how did that process come together and what do you think of the lessons in that initiative well I think it's so important when things are difficult to take a leadership position I think it's very it it's very important for the people that you work with and also for the industry that you work within to look at the landscape and think where can I be the most helpful what can I do to really show the world that we work in that we were there to help were there to support were there to give advice and there to give counsel and the other very important thing to remember as you will know Hamish is that you simply can't do these kind of huge initiatives by yourself that you have to galvanize the industry behind you so once we had decided that we wanted to repurpose the fashion fund into a common thread we engaged the CFDA we engaged everybody who works at Conde Nast that was able to help us and to support us we did a video series we raised the money and and once it was announced we were so I was just so overwhelmed to be honest by the generosity of Ralph Lauren who called me personally I think it was the day that it was announced in the New York Times that we were starting this initiative to help young designers and people within the industry that his foundation was going to give us a million dollars and it was just what we needed to make us believe in ourselves but also to have other people believe in what we were trying to do and within a few weeks after we announced it and we laid out the application we had well over a thousand applications hamish to apply for these grants which we now have raised over five million dollars and so what we had done in the meantime was asked 10 10 leaders within our community people from the retail business designers obviously people from vogue and the CFDA but a really strong mix of different different areas of our of our industry who could really help us make a very difficult decision because to give grants whether it was ten thousand dollars or I think our largest is going to be a hundred thousand dollars you know that's not a decision that you want to make lightly and it's not a decision that you want to make alone and how the applications being I mean what's what struck you well I think if you are a young designer and I hope to goodness that you're never in a situation like so many are in during this pandemic but if you are in a situation where you do need to apply for a grant or you are applying for a position whatever it may be the most important thing is to prepare and obviously the applications that have been thoughtful and careful and given us real data and numbers and a very clear explanation of where the grant should they be given it go those are the applications that we're going to take far more seriously than those who sent in two lines with a smiley face it's such an inspiring initiative as we'll all see later from the videos of those in our fashion community who've been affected by the endemic does a video clip later in this program hi all right hi what's up my name is Nicolas a burn I'm Anna Wintour or at Kim Hyung for Sidney Webb I'm the owner Alexander Wang and I'm the creative director fashion designer adder maker creative director wholesale I'm an assistant designer in the chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers now I would like to ask for your help in raising funds for the CFDA book fashion fund initiative a common thread our goal with a common thread is not only to highlight all of the designers whom you know and love would also focus on those individuals who keep our industry running the challenges that we face are profound but this fun we hope is a step in the right direction here we are in my house in quarantine our store and our office have been closed for two weeks three and a half year old black owned business is disappearing right before my eyes emotionally it's it's definitely been stressful confusing isolating we just have our community and our customers and they're hurting just as much as we are right now there's so much more to the fashion industry than what people see in magazines all I ever wanted to do is to be part of this industry and you know I've been so blessed and humbled by the opportunities that it has given me this is a perfect time to stop think rethink reinvent and we know we have to do a lot better and this is the right time to close and think about how we can improve our industry everyone keeps saying I can't wait things to get back to normal it's I don't think there is a normal after this I'm looking forward to the new normal all the industry all the designers we need to get together to rethink what the new normal is I think we can take that opportunity and learn as an industry that we are all in this together I hope we come together as communities as countries and stand together to help each other get through this moment of Darkness I am convinced that we will come out of this together more collaborative and more creative than ever before my name is Jonathan Miller my name is shirasu kamikaze Gao Josef ultra Zahra Victor come on I'm ami bacha ever hey this is our common thread and these are the stories of our community [Music] obviously the current situation has changed the way we will communicate both as a team and with the players in our in our working world and it's going to keep on changing with this in mind we launched the first-ever VOC global conversation series do you want to tell me a little bit about that initiative and its message of positive change in so many areas that seems even more prescient given the situation we find ourselves in now it's really interesting Hamish because I think many of us I know you certainly were one of them have been talking for a while about how as an industry we've been somewhat stuck in this merry-go-round of fashion shows after fashion shows in different places all over the world and there's glamorous and wonderful as it might sound or seem to the outside world it was also presenting incredible pressure on the creativity of the designers it was a lot of pressure and expense for editors and retailers to fly all over the world to see these collections and also there's a pressure when the actual clothes get into the stores or onto the e-commerce sites wherever it may be for them to sell quickly because right behind them was another collection waiting to be delivered and I think we were all saying we need to slow down this is not good for climate this is not good for the environment this is really frankly not good for creativity it's not good for for anything that we believe in it isn't it isn't in step with the values of today so I think the pandemic hit and we all had to find a computer and move somewhere that would be safe and I actually started to have some time to really think and I know you must have been asked I've been certainly asked a million times what is this going to mean to a fashion moving forward and it seemed to me that oh there are all these people all over the world that work in our world that are thinking exactly this and I know they're at home so let's get them on a zoom let's have these global conversations spearheaded by Vogue and let's understand what people in the retail business what people in the design business what people from all different areas who work within fashion are thinking and how can we open up the conversation to understand what direction we we might go in and obviously whatever direction we're going to go in in the next few months is going to be a transition phase but again I think that this is something that those of you who are listening at home might take to heart when you are in a difficult situation it's very important to ask others what they're thinking and to have a real honest exchange of ideas and see how you can take everything out together and I I don't know what you think hamish but I felt that the conversation that Edward NFL the editor-in-chief of British Vogue had with March acres which the creative director of March Jacobs that started the low global conversations off was actually one of the most revealing because it was so honest I mean there were two key members of our world's really talking about a situation that neither of the men in before and asking each other for support and help and advice and suggestions yes I agree I think I think those conversations were so unbar niscitam I think there's also something about this this format that kind of encourages that sort of Frank speaking and I think you know particularly mark feeling so kind of vulnerable and kind of angry and and frightened and uncertain about everything but coming through with that message that creativity is never going to die and you know he's certainly turned it on himself and his most amazing joy it joyful way so yeah I think that the message of creativity never stopping is yes in the end that's that's what fuels everything that that we do and I think that he was feeling particularly vulnerable as you say because he he didn't have his team around him and he's someone who relies very much on being surrounded by people who will challenge him and make him think and question and he needs that support system in order to create his collections and then on the other side of the coin I was in conversation with my our dear friend John Galliano who is someone that can work in a very solitary way and is comfortable in that environment and I'm not saying for one second that one is right and the other is wrong but it just shows you that two very brilliant designers who are absolutely the most revered in their field have very separate ways of working very different ways of working and and neither is right or neither is wrong it's just everybody finds the path to creativity in in their own in their own way but what what I loved about the conversations was how you felt how much they they missed designing and creating and in the end what they wanted was their clothes their designs to be seen yes yeah it was very uplifting of the message that came through everything and I think we also I think it was who interviewed Stella was it it was a from Spain yes yeah I think at one point we had editors from India and Russia at the same time so they were truly global but I I thought what was also so moving about hearing from stellar is that she Stella McCartney who is a designer who has said in her in her own words that for many years she felt she was a rather lonely voice you know obviously speaking up always for climate change and sustainability and now obviously the world is joining forces with her and and she is working them with open arms and I think as we emerge out of the situation that we're in right now that sense of wanting to invest I be connected with a designer a brand that has meaning and has values that you can connect to is is so important absolutely in the in the class who invited cameras into Berg's editorial process for the March 2019 issue students were able to see you kind of run and manage fashion and editorial meetings for that issue the whole sort of process how was that process changed or been affected by this pandemic how did how did the June July issue come together it was obviously we had a very different issue as you know in mind before the pandemic hit and everybody had to shelter at home but I I think it really demonstrates the strength of the incredible team yourself obviously included Hamish that we have it though because once we had adjusted to this situation and learnt to live through meetings and conversations like the one that you and I are having right now it was very clear to us that this was a moment that we had not experienced before and that I think we all felt deeply strongly passionately that it was Vogue's role to reflect what was happening whether you were a designer or a writer or a photographer or videographer or an international editor at large that we wanted to understand and report and reflect the moment and so we asked our world's from all over the world to really either write or photograph or take a video or do something that we could use both on all our platforms whether it was print or digital on video to create the atmosphere that we're all living in right now and also to write about it and and what it meant if you worked in the theater have you worked in fashion or view what if you were an artist like how this was affecting you creatively from a creative point of view and also we also very much wanted to talk about the young designers that we are supporting through a common thread and so as a result we had all these amazing pieces of journalism and heartbreaking images that we were able to collect an issue that I've strongly feel I hope that you hey Misha would agree it's going to be a collector's item because when you look through it it does summon our the loneliness and the heartbreak and the sense of looking out on a world that you feel is you can no longer grasp but also a sense of belonging through family and children and creativity so it was this extraordinary eye on a world that is unlike anything you know except maybe those that have lived through through through through wars or other extraordinary experiences have know about and it was also a big big discussion about what should we do for the cover and we tried out a lot of the images but we had decided that the the logo for a common thread would be a rose and I honestly can't remember if it was or if it was Raul who thought we should go back into our archives to you know our greatest contributor ever Irving Penn and see if there was an unpublished image that we could use for the cover and by some miracle as we were going through what was had not been seen there was a red rose which was our symbol for a common thread so here we are yes beautiful no I I find it absolutely extraordinary and it's already been you know talked about in so many different publications this being an image that just was such a standout image so I think it shows that when things are difficult that's when you have to be really your most creative I mean how have you found it Hamish I know you've taken up cooking yes I mean I've you know looking at my calendar for this week I think I was meant to be in Kenya all right walking with the elephants you know the French Kenya Doha Capri Puglia maybe a stop in London back now I have a kind of four block radius if I'm feeling particularly adventurous so it's a it's a challenge but yes I've been focused on my kitchen from someone who didn't know how to light a cooker that's that's a big leap forward but so you know and actually I found the time to kind of stop and think about things has been incredibly useful as you said earlier you know we were on this crazy schedule and thank you you more than any of us I mean you just never never stop but for those who who were watching may who may not be as familiar with some of the adventures that Hamish has been on maybe you might want to tell some stories about a couple of the ones that you've been on in the past fight the survival was one of my killer favorites yes yes I think some wag at the office might be new Anna would it be a great idea to take now to my comfort zone and send me on an outdoor survival school in southern Utah with with wild bears and mosquitos and flash floods and that kind of thing I kind of survived it for a week I mean I did I completed the course I was very proud of myself that was that was followed by that's followed being signed up for an X Factor audition which I think probably is the single most terrifying experience how far did you get I'm trying to remember most of the way through my song before it was a lot of fun to read about and I and I I think it's very you know in a world where previously it was so easy just to drop by somebody's office or you know pass them in the corridor and have a quick talk and and meetings where we could exchange ideas it's very important in difficult situations like the one that we're all living right now to remain closely in touch with your team's and really to connect with them as much as you possibly can either you know obviously via via zoom meetings or through email but connection is really important I think you can't let people drift away too much into their own own thing because it is such an extraordinary circumstance that people are not so used to and I think for those possibly that are living alone it's also you know it's quite frightening and it's quite solitary so that I think the human connection as much as you can possibly offer it is very is very important and that people feel listened to and the other the other lesson that I've learned is that you can just drift all day on these meetings and never go outside or never switch off and you also have to courage the people that you work with to disconnect and take whatever I don't know what a vacation is emic but to take to take time to yourselves whether it's it's cooking or learning the piano or whatever it is you might may be engaging with yourself spiritually in a different kind of a way from the day-to-day work that we we have to do in such a different way so earn a masterclass have received hundreds of wonderful questions for you from their community I wish we could get to all of them but we're going to try and get to as many as possible so let's start with Qian in Los Angeles who asks what is the best means of showing creative prowess in an interview or resume I'm so glad we have that question because I'm going to let you answer that question Hamish because I remember vividly our very first interview well in my defense and upfront I'm gonna say I was a 21 year old club kid stylist you just come to British Vogue a very um gender-fluid approach to dressing your lovely assistant Gabby had told you that you had to meet me okay I arrived for the interview and she kind of looked absolutely stricken stricken at me I'm the color drained from her face and she said it's incredibly hot in Anna's office I think you might want to give me your jacket it was really bizarre you know resistance these things and she said well at least let me take your purse I had to tell my Chanel handbag and then I I sort of said waltzed into your office with some trepidation only to discover that you were wearing exactly the same Chanel jacket so I mean I'm not quite sure what the messages stay true to yourself I think because I didn't get the job but I don't think you forgot me it's certainly not and I think the lesson a lesson I learned from that that meeting is never let never let the true creative stars slip away and I don't think that I had the right position for Hamish at the time but it's true I never forgot him and I also understood you know from observing and watching and getting to know Hamish over many many years that he is someone that you have to really treasure and understand you know the enormous gifts that he brings to a title like whoa which are way beyond doing what he has to do right now which is staying in one place and that you have to understand that there are people that you just simply can't put in a box because they will not flourish and you have to let them spread their wings and follow their heart in there and then their passions and then they will bring back real magic to what you're doing and and to have true creativity I think you have to be able to recognize that kind of talent well I'm quite clamped um let's move swiftly to Sarah in London who asks you talk in your class about being decisive how did you craft such strong courage and your convictions as it were was this something that you had throughout your career and how did you kind of thank you for asking that I mean I think I was grew up in a in a family of journalists my mother was a was a film critic and my father was a newspaper editor and at that time there were maybe 10 12 editions of a paper every single day if you can believe it I guess it's a little bit similar to what we're doing now except they all had to be produced physically and I saw him making decisions on you know an hourly basis and the clear he and he was very clear in in in the directions that he was giving his journalists and his editors and I always saw how much he was admired and what the great paper he produced and also how people responded so much better to something that they could understand even if it was a no and they disagreed at least they they knew where they were and what the parameters were and I in my career have worked for people that have been very decisive and I found that very much easier to work for than people that would change their minds and and not be clear so I think it's a combination of of having a father who was so decisive and worked in the world that you know I eventually worked in and and also having experienced both sides and understanding if you're if you're working for someone clarity is is a real gift I think well that's what I've experienced for 27 years and it certainly it is yes clarity and directness no gray areas Maria Jose in London Canada London Canada asks how are you spending your days in the past months and what have you learned about being at home well I've been very fortunate that I have a home on Long Island and I've been able to see spring in a way that I have never ever seen before so I spent when I'm not here in this room working I spent a lot of time walking around the garden looking daffodils and wisteria now is extraordinary the lilacs are amazing and just because when we arrived here everything was brown and cold and dark and and now it's light at five o'clock and it's staying light now until 8:15 and just really seeing a garden open has been an extraordinary gift so I've loved that and I'm also very fortunate in that I am sheltering at home with my daughter and my daughter-in-law and my two granddaughters and my son-in-law so I've been and I've been very lucky to be able to spend time with them and I understand listening to a lot of the the team at Conde Nast at Vogue how much everybody is enjoying the family time and and how many of them are saying they would prefer to continue working remotely or at least part partly remotely so I think it's been I do think it's been a time for reflection and I think it's been a time to understand what's important in your life and I I think that we have spent a lot of time running too fast I mean I don't know what you think Hamish I think just that yes I mean I kind of loved my schedule and the craziness of it and being on a plane a couple of times a week and so on but I mean it has in lots of ways it's sort of been amazing sitting still and as you say seeing seeing spring spring in this city which we like you I really haven't seen and the blossom so yesterday Los Angeles asks we touched on this little what direction is bashing heading in the future I think that that's a question that right now is impossible to answer I definitely think that people are focusing on slowing down and being as creative as they possibly can and talking to readers to audiences to customers about the value of fashion and and less about it being disposable that fashion can mean emotion it can be about memories it could be something that you can give to your son to your daughter it doesn't mean it's something that you should just wear wear one time I mean I feel that we really need to think about sustainability in the environment and and what this industry means to to the world going forward so in that to answer that question I think everybody that works in our world is using this time to move forward in a better way but in the immediate future I think we're just going to be looking at a period of time for a year maybe two years that will be very transition and as we emerge there'll be a clearer path but I don't believe for one second anybody has the answer the full answer to your question right now right Melissa in Washington DC asks can you well we've sort of covered this I suppose can you supply any tips on how to compartmentalize in a healthy way work life and personal life I guess it's your garden right your beautiful garden is a great joy but I think to anybody embarking on a career I think it is dangerous and may be overwhelming only to immerse yourself in your work and I also think if you have as Hamish does a very a life a part a very full life apart from your work whether it involves the theater or film or books or what it music whatever it may be that is only gonna inform your work and make make it more interesting and more full because I think everything that you absorb and see and learn about and listen to you know reappears in in another way so I think balance is incredibly important right I'm afraid win we're now to our last question hey it might be a penultimate one because I have a quick question for you Jeannie in Winter Park Florida asks what is the one piece of advice you wish you had never heard or that you completely ignored that's an interesting that I wish that I had ignored yes well that you had ignored oh that I did ignore well you know the Madonna's story I think yes I was sat next to a rather pompous person who enquired about what I did and I said oh I would I you know I walk a folk and he said oh I love Vogue I think of Vogue as being you know Audrey Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn and Princess Grace and it's it's a it's a title or it's a magazine that would never put Madonna on the cover and I remember it was right at the time that we were actually photographing Madonna and that for her first Vogue cover and there were many after that and we were so thrilled to have her and that made me more determined than ever to put Madonna on the cover and the last question do you have a do you have a favorite memory or moment from from your masterclass well I love talking to masterclass well it was it was a fascinating and very enjoyable experience but I love talking to masterclass about the fashion fund and to explain how important it is I think for all of us at Vogue to understand what a young generation is thinking we learned from them just as much as they may learn from us and to understand what they're thinking and how they're designing and you know what their inspirations might be and just just meeting them and and and being part of their world and and seeing where they live and how they design and seeing their passion and their enthusiasm and their their sense of hope is is that it's just a wonderful gift and then of course sadly not this year but in years pass I I mean I always love to talk about the Met and how important the work of brilliant Andrew Bolton is to us at both and how again with inspired by his mind and how he sees fashion in a historical context and how he tells his stories and how we can bring worlds that might not necessarily go into the Met looking for an exhibition that is about soiree or Schiaparelli or punk but stumbles on it and really learn something and and enjoys it so I think those are two initiatives initiatives that we all work on at Vogue that I think everybody there really feels so I think feels versus that they have a very special part of the world that we that we work in that of course producing the magazine whether it's print digital or video is is is vital to what we do but I think one of the wonderful things about being at Vogue and I know Hamish seeing how you work and what you do I think that what's so extraordinary about Vogue is it can give you a platform to help others in so many different ways and to learn from others in so many different ways and to cross into so many different worlds yes I completely agree thank you Anna it's been it's been a wonderful talking to you and and now at last our time is up and I'm going to hand you over to chose meet her name is such an important conversation I love the image Hamish of a 21 year old club head you have any photos club picture lurking on the internet and and I love what you said about you know when things are difficult taking a leadership position I was I remember such a big theme in your class and I love that you are just living your words and showcasing that right now with the global conversations and a common thread so thank you both so much for taking the time and I want to leave you with one last question you mentioned earlier you're the work of your father at a fleet-street newspaper and how he influenced you greatly I'm wondering what are the lessons he taught you that are most resonating with you right now particularly working you know in journalism well I I saw his love for what he did and how much he cared about the people that worked with him and and how excited he was by by the people that he worked with and and about telling stories and putting out the news and and being at the the center I mean he was working on a newspaper so at the center of culture at the center of politics and really I learned from him a sense of doing the right thing and really trusting your instincts and also being able to trust the people that you work with and letting them make decisions for themselves and and knowing that they will work better with you if they understand that you trust them great well thank you guys so much for taking the time to be here and thank you to everyone who's joined us today for those of you who are master class members we're teaming up with Anna for a special challenge called lead with a vision that gives you a chance to win a signed copy of that 20/20 June 2020 edition of Vogue and now you mentioned that's probably going to be a collector's edition years from now so this is a great chance to submit submit for the contest and receive that coffee just head over to the community page and share a story of how you've led with the vision and we plan to announce the winners the week June 15 that's a class live takes place this time every Wednesday and our next guest is one of the greatest dancers of all time misty Copeland and a Hamish thank you so much

Channel: MasterClass

Views: 131,836

Rating: 4.9207578 out of 5

Keywords: masterclass, master class

Id: HBcGLrGDWzM

Length: 43min 40sec (2620 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 18 2020