Anna Wintour and Condé Nast

Anna, Anna, Anna...

For the last several years, Condé Nast has been preparing for when chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr., now 85, would wind down his duties at the publishing group. For a company whose prestige and reputation are so closely tied to one man, the question of who would follow in his footsteps has all the gravity of a papal succession.

At a time when other companies are shrinking or being spun off, the preservation of Condé’s image was all the more important. The executives in place are all money guys — consumer marketers, really, and even by their admission, unlikely to inspire the cult of personality Newhouse stoked for decades. Condé was in need of its own version of the Columbia Pictures’ logo, someone to symbolize the culture of the place as much as the image it sought to convey.


In Condé’s view, there was no one better suited for that role than Anna Wintour, 63.

“She’s maybe the greatest marketer we have in this organization,” said chief executive officer Charles H. Townsend. “What she stands for is the epitome of what Condé stands for — her accomplishment, her success, her unyielding commitment to excellence and content creation.”

Condé executives had been looking to elevate Wintour to a larger corporate role. On Tuesday she was anointed artistic director, a newly created position that encompasses duties once held by Newhouse and, much earlier on, by Alexander Liberman, the group’s legendary editorial director. In theory, the role grants her enormous influence over the editorial direction of the company’s magazines, from The New Yorker to Vanity Fair.

Wintour’s coronation was received by some as a positive development for a company that some believe had lost its shimmer as Newhouse became less involved. But there was also confusion. Save for Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter and New Yorker editor David Remnick, Condé’s not in the habit of consulting with top editors about major institutional announcements like this. So when the official statement went out, it raised more questions than answers. Will Wintour attend print order previews? How would she divide her loyalties between Vogue and the magazines she’s ostensibly been tasked with advising?

“We’re not all friends here,” said an insider. “This is a competitive building. We use the same photographers. We compete for the same celebrities. This will be a gradual process as she finds areas she’d like to investigate. Why else would she take the job if she wasn’t going to do things with it?”

Wintour has been part of the Condé family since 1983, rising from editor in chief of British Vogue to the company’s shiniest star. In that time, she’s also broadly expanded the definition of editor in chief. She is the ultimate brand manager — there are Vogue-branded events, documentaries, online encyclopedias — and a power broker, one of the most influential forces in fashion, with a say on everything from the stewardship of the world’s oldest fashion houses to the industry’s place in the American economy.

What was there to do after all that? Last year, the question came up during a casual get-together with New York editor in chief Adam Moss. They were both restless, eager to do something else. But Wintour came down on the side of pragmatism, said sources familiar with their conversation. The minute she leaves Vogue, she told Moss, she would just go back to being another former editor.

One way to expand her circle of influence beyond fashion and media was politics. She campaigned and raised substantial sums for Barack Obama in 2008, and repeated her efforts in the last election cycle, hosting lavish fund-raisers in his honor. As the campaign was drawing to a close, she lobbied hard for one of the sought-after ambassadorships that are usually passed down to influential donors, such as Paris or London, several sources said.

Last summer, Wintour signed a three-year contract that came with financial penalties if she left early. Though the possibility of a new corporate title had been discussed, by December no firm agreement had been reached.

Townsend confirmed he and Wintour had talked for over a year about expanding her purview but hadn’t come up with the right offer. There was talk of Wintour having oversight of some brands, but not all, according to sources. She had already played that role once in the past, overseeing editorial direction of several titles, not just Teen Vogue, but also Men’s Vogue and Vogue Living, two titles that were subsequently shuttered.

Townsend was aware of Wintour’s desire for a change, though they never discussed the possible diplomatic post.

“Twenty-five years is a long time,” he said. “I do think it’s almost the ideal moment to expand her horizons and maintain her enthusiasms for all the things this company stands for.”



sources: WWD

Companys Go Shopping

The megadeal may be back.

The steadily tepid economy has aligned with low interest rates and a strong stock market to raise the prospects that there could be big, multibillion-dollar deals in the fashion world this year. The caveat is whether big-time buyers feel comfortable enough to bet on a consumer who’s still feeling her way forward cautiously.

Wall Street at least is ready to go and egging companies on, even if buyers are still in wait-and-see mode.


Rumors — not particularly credible ones — have bubbled to the surface lately that large, premier companies might change hands. Coach Inc., Tiffany & Co., Burberry and the troubled J.C. Penney Co. Inc. have all been the subject of whispers among investors in recent weeks. 

A deal for any of those companies would easily run over $5 billion.

That’s a boatload of money, but there’s plenty of cash sitting on corporate balance sheets and in private equity war chests. And extremely low interest rates, which are intended to prop up the economy, have also prompted banks and junk bond investors to lend money cheaply and with few strings attached.

Source: WWD

Sean John Ramp Up

I was at a party on Wednesday with Jeff Tweedy of Sean John and he did not mention this to me.

As part of an ongoing effort to try to improve marketing and its in-store presence, Sean John has hired two key executives. Vincent Panzanella has joined the company as vice president of marketing and Dean Arcuri has been named vice president of creative direction.

Vincent Panzanella

Dean Arcuri

They assume responsibilities that were previously handled by LonDell Wright, who exited Sean John in January.

Panzanella is now overseeing marketing efforts including brand development, strategic partnerships, events, media planning and public relations. Most recently, he worked at Tommy Hilfiger as senior director of marketing. In that role, he oversaw general brand positioning, media campaigns and the marketing of multiple licensed product categories.

Both he and Arcuri report to Sean John president Jeff Tweedy.

Arcuri is handling the brand’s visual identity, managing the creative feel and direction of retail displays and overseeing the roll-out of new stores and shops-in-shop. His prior work experience includes serving as marketing director at Ralph Lauren.

Refocusing the line as a fashion collection, instead of one rooted in basics, has been a priority for Tweedy, who was promoted to president in November. Last year’s retail sales were said to be about $350 million, a significant improvement compared to recent years but not as strong as the company’s 2008 claim of $525 million.

Tweedy said of his two new hires, “I’m confident they will both play critical roles as we continue Sean John’s growth and work to re-energize the brand through dynamic new marketing initiatives and the creation of a strong visual identity in the media, at retail and online.”