The long-standing question in fashion media – who could ever follow in Anna Wintour’s footsteps at Vogue US – now has an exciting answer. Chloe Malle has been appointed head of editorial content at American Vogue, stepping into the role with immediate effect.
The appointment positions Malle, currently editor of Vogue.com and co-host of The Run-Through podcast, as the creative and editorial lead of the US edition. She joins Vogue’s network of 10 Heads of Editorial Content worldwide, all of whom report to Wintour, who remains firmly in place as Vogue’s global editorial director and Condé Nast’s global chief content officer. At 75, Wintour continues to oversee the brand’s global growth strategy while stewarding its most high-profile tentpoles – the Met Gala, Vogue World, and its increasingly diversified slate of cross-platform ventures.
“Fashion and media are both evolving at breakneck speed, and I am so thrilled – and awed – to be part of that,” Malle told Vogue. “I also feel incredibly fortunate to still have Anna just down the hall as my mentor.”
Wintour, announcing the appointment internally, underscored the significance of the handover in a statement published by Vogue: “When it came to hiring someone to edit American Vogue, letting me turn my attention more intensely to Vogue’s multifaceted growth across its global audiences and publications and events like the Met Gala and Vogue World, I knew I had one chance to get it right.” She added that Vogue, at a moment of transformation both within fashion and beyond, “must continue to be both the standard-bearer and the boundary-pushing leader.”
“Chloe has proven often that she can find the balance between American Vogue’s long, singular history and its future on the front lines of the new,” Wintour said.
The move marks the most consequential editorial succession in contemporary fashion media – and signals how Condé Nast is recalibrating its leadership structure for the demands of a global, multi-platform, and increasingly digital-first audience.
Who is Chloe Malle?
Malle’s pedigree is storied. The daughter of actress Candice Bergen and French film director Louis Malle, she grew up between Paris and Los Angeles before graduating from Brown University in 2008 with a degree in Literary Arts and Comparative Literature. In a recent interview with The New York Times, she described herself as a “proud ‘nepo’ baby”. “There is no question that I have 100% benefited from the privilege I grew up in,” she told the media outlet. “It’s delusional to say otherwise. I will say, though, that it has always made me work much harder. It has been a goal for a lot of my life to prove that I’m more than Candice Bergen’s daughter, or someone who grew up in Beverly Hills.”
Her early career included a stint as a reporter at the New York Observer. By 2011, at just 25, she joined Vogue as social editor, before becoming a contributing editor whose bylines appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, and WWD.
“My understanding is that Anna [Wintour] wanted someone really young. Obviously, because I was 25, I think that was part of my appeal,” she admitted to Into the Gloss in 2013. “I was hesitant when I was interviewing, because fashion is not one of my main interests in life, and I wanted to be a writer more than an editor, but I was so seduced by the Vogue machine that I couldn’t resist.”
That ambivalence has, paradoxically, proven an asset. Rather than being tethered to fashion orthodoxy, Malle’s approach has leaned toward cultural fluency, narrative depth, and audience expansion – qualities that Condé Nast increasingly values as it courts new demographics and diversifies its revenue streams.
Now 39, she lives in Manhattan with her husband, two children, and dog, Lloyd.
Why Malle – and Why Now?
Her track record is telling. Since assuming the editorship of Vogue.com in autumn 2023, Malle has overseen a period of robust digital growth. According to Vogue, direct traffic to the site has doubled, while metrics including unique views, time spent, and content output have risen by double digits. Much of this momentum has been tied to Vogue’s global eventisation strategy, from the Met Gala to Vogue World, where real-time digital coverage has become as critical as the glossy spreads once were.
“I’ve spent my career at Vogue working in roles across every platform – from print to digital, audio to video, events and social media,” Malle told Vogue. “I love the title, I love the content we create, and I love the editors who create it. Vogue has already shaped who I am, now I’m excited at the prospect of shaping Vogue.”
Her multi-platform dexterity mirrors Condé Nast’s broader editorial strategy, which since 2020 has been oriented around globalised leadership and digital-first expansion. Under this model, Wintour has functioned less as the day-to-day steward of US Vogue and more as Condé Nast’s cultural strategist-in-chief. Malle’s appointment formalises this division, granting Wintour bandwidth to extend Vogue’s global influence while entrusting the American edition to a leader proven in the digital trenches.
The Bigger Picture: A Generational Shift in Fashion
The succession is more than symbolic. For years, speculation swirled around whether anyone could – or should – step into Wintour’s role.
It also reflects a generational recalibration. At 39, Malle is decades younger than many of her peers in publishing’s top ranks. She arrives not as a gatekeeper of legacy print but as an editor shaped by digital experimentation and cross-platform storytelling. This orientation will be vital as Vogue navigates an audience that increasingly consumes fashion through TikTok feeds, livestreams, and interactive experiences as much as print issues.
Malle’s appointment comes at a moment of extraordinary renewal in fashion. Creative director shifts at houses like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada have ushered in bold new visions, reflecting an industry that is embracing reinvention rather than clinging to tradition. This generational turnover has energised fashion with fresh perspectives, younger voices, and more diverse storytelling across runways and campaigns. For Vogue, the timing is fortuitous: as luxury brands recalibrate their creative identities, the magazine gains an editor attuned to digital culture and cross-platform storytelling. Malle’s experience positions her to translate this global wave of creativity into content that not only chronicles fashion’s evolution but also actively shapes its future.
Implications for Global and Asian Markets
For Asia in particular, the appointment raises important questions. Vogue’s international footprint – spanning China, Japan, India, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and beyond – has become central to its revenue model. The region is not only home to some of the most digitally engaged fashion consumers but also the fastest-growing luxury markets.
Malle’s digital-first instincts could dovetail neatly with the needs of Asian audiences, who are already accustomed to high-volume, real-time content cycles and hybrid event formats. Platforms like Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Line have become key battlegrounds for fashion influence, and Vogue’s ability to localise its global identity while amplifying its marquee events will determine its staying power.
At the same time, Malle inherits the delicate challenge of ensuring that American Vogue remains both aspirational and authoritative in a fragmented media landscape. With Asian luxury consumers increasingly setting global fashion trends, the US edition must remain competitive not only in shaping American style but also in positioning itself within a global dialogue.
BurdaLuxury’s Lens
The appointment of Chloe Malle does not close the Anna Wintour chapter so much as it reframes it. Wintour remains the global power broker, orchestrating Vogue’s cultural dominance across continents and mediums. Malle, meanwhile, is tasked with translating that vision into content that resonates with an audience both younger and more global than ever.
While Malle steps into the editorial spotlight, Wintour’s influence remains impossible to overstate. Since taking the helm of American Vogue in 1988, Wintour has shaped the modern fashion landscape – from championing emerging designers through the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund to transforming the Met Gala into a global cultural phenomenon. Her ability to evolve with the times ensured Vogue remained the industry’s most powerful voice through print, digital, and now social-first eras. As Malle steps into the editorial lead, she inherits not only a storied title but also Wintour’s legacy of innovation – with the task of translating that influence for a new, digital-native generation.
Malle steps into the role at a complex moment for fashion media. From the rise of AI-generated advertising and the backlash around certain cover choices to a digital ecosystem where TikTok trends can eclipse print overnight, the challenges are real. Yet her digital fluency and narrative instinct suggest she is well equipped to meet them. By balancing bold experimentation with Vogue’s heritage, Malle has the opportunity not just to steady the brand but to redefine what editorial leadership looks like in the 21st century.
