Anna Wintour stepped down from her longtime role editing U.S. Vogue just six days ago, but her employer is already taking a classic route to find her replacement.
Condé Nast, Vogue’s parent company, took to LinkedIn on Tuesday to advertise a new opening at their company: Head of Editorial Content for U.S. Vogue, a role intended to replace Wintour.
The barebones post reads simply, “Condé Nast is hiring a Head of Editorial Content for U.S Vogue. If you are interested, please reach out by email with your resume to condenast@spencerstuart.com.”
Wintour, 75, announced last Thursday that she would take a step back from editing the magazine to instead focus on her other two roles at Condé Nast, as the company’s artistic director and the global editorial director of Vogue, which has 29 international branches.
The shock announcement soon raised suspicion among some longtime fans of the magazine, who questioned why Wintour was stepping down without an apparent successor in place. At the time, Condé Nast said it would begin the search for a new head of editorial content imminently.
Wintour’s announcement also seemed to shock her own employees when she shared it at a staff meeting on Thursday. One anonymous employee told Daily Mail, “It was like finding out that God is stepping down from being God.”
In the aftermath of her announcement, fans and outlets alike have speculated about who could replace the fashion world’s most famous face. Most assumed the position would be filled internally, with The Hollywood Reporter and BBC speculating that any number of familiar Vogue faces could see a promotion in their future.
Among the most popular guesses have been former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enniful; U.S. Vogue fashion director Tonne Goodman; Chioma Nnadi, head of editorial content at British Vogue; U.S. Vogue Senior Editor Chloe Schama, and Chloe Malle, who runs U.S. Vogue’s website.
Among the non-Vogue names to emerge have been Architectural Digest editor-in-chief Amy Astley and The Cut editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples Wagner—both of whom previously ran Teen Vogue—as well as Instagram fashion partnerships head Eva Chen.
Of course, many have also wondered if Wintour’s own daughter, Broadway producer Bee Shaffer, may step in to fill her mother’s shoes. Shaffer is part of a Vogue dynasty, being both the daughter of Wintour and the wife of Francesco Carrozzini, whose mother was late Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Carrozzini. However, shortly before graduating from Columbia University in 2008, Shaffer told New York, “I’m staying far away from Vogue.”
While Condé Nast is advertising Wintour’s old position on LinkedIn, you’ll have to take a more direct route to apply. The media company hasn’t made an official job listing for the position on LinkedIn, instead instructing those interested to apply over email. That move conveniently makes it impossible to track how many people have taken up the invitation to apply. However, the advertising post has already racked up nearly 4,300 reactions.
