She is said to be the most powerful woman in fashion and she does nothing to dispel that belief. Her name is Anna Wintour, a name that strikes terror in some and loathing in others. It should also be said she commands a loyal band of friends and admirers.
“The blurb on your unauthorized biography reads ‘She’s ambitious, driven, needy, a perfectionist’. Accurate?” 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer asked Wintour.
“Well, I am very driven by what I do. I am certainly very competitive. I like people who represent the best of what they do, and if that turns you into a perfectionist, then maybe I am,” Wintour replied.
Wintour is involved in every detail of the magazine: the clothes, editing the pictures and articles. She is decisive, impatient, and bears a look that says “I’m the boss, and you’re boring.”
“An editor in the final analysis is a kind of dictator – a magazine is not a democracy?” Safer asked.
“It’s a group of people coming together and presenting ideas from which I pick what I think is the best mix for each particular issue, but in the end, the final decision has to be mine,” Wintour explained. “We’re here to work. There’s on-duty time and off-duty time, and we’re drawn together by our passion for the magazine. If one comes across sometimes as being cold or brusque, it’s simply because I’m striving for the best.”