Anna Wintour explains the reason behind her constant use of sunglasses, even when indoors.

Anna Wintour’s spiky reputation famously inspired the 2006 The Devil Wears Prada, which opened as a musical in London’s West End last weekend, but the Vogue Editor-in-Chief has begged to differ that she’s frosty with more lowly staff.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast’s Culture and Media editor Katie Razzall, the 75-year-old denied that employees are too frightened to approach her. 

Wintour, who is in London to promote a new immersive exhibition, VOGUE: Inventing the Runway, told the journalist when asked if people are scared of her: ‘I hope not.’

She added that plenty of people turn her down too, saying the idea that ‘no-one says no to Anna Wintour’ is an industry myth.

The veteran editor told Razzell: ‘That is absolutely untrue. They often say no, but that’s a good thing. No is a wonderful word’. 

Wintour was also asked about her trademark look, which has been unchanged for decades and features her razor-sharp bob and ever-present sunglasses.

While the fashion icon wouldn’t be drawn on her overall look, saying she preferred to think about creativity only in terms of her job, a persistent Razzell did get an answer on the glasses. 

Wintour responded: ‘They help me see and they help me not see. They help me be seen and not be seen. They are a prop, I would say.’ 

This week, Wintour’s close friend Elton John confirmed he’s now lost his eyesight while addressing guests at London’s Dominion Theatre as he appeared alongside the Vogue boss for the red carpet launch of The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical.

Asked whether she has any plans to retire or potentially keep going into her ninth decade, Wintour revealed she’s not planning on quitting the fashion bible anytime soon, saying she only thinks of ‘today, not tomorrow’. 

The new Vogue exhibition, which opened at Lightroom in the capital last month, is an immersive exhibition exploring the history of the fashion runway show. 

It comes after the British editor reflected on her early career at the US fashion bible in Disney+’s documentary series In Vogue: The 90s, released in September.

Before she moved to Vogue in 1981, Anna had previously worked at Harpers & Queen in London and Harper’s Bazaar in America. 

Forty years on, she’s the first thing many people think of when the word Vogue is mentioned.  

In the programme, Wintour says of her promotion to the head of Vogue: ‘Conde Nast [appointed me] because it was time for change.

‘Under the previous leadership, every cover of Vogue looked all the same […] sometimes you just need to tear everything up and start over.’

Admitting that she had ‘no plan’, Wintour said she set about finding a team of ‘brilliantly creative people’ to work with as she opened up about her career at the fashion bible.

While on board a flight from London to New York in 1989, Anna says she got talking to a ‘very conservative gentleman’, who praised the magazine for previous issues featuring Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly.

After he joked that Madonna would never appear on their front page, the editor said she had a ‘lightbulb’ moment and became set on featuring the ‘controversial’ pop star.

Last weekend, The Devil Wears Prada Musical, which is based on the 2006 comedy starring Meryl Streep, saw a throng of A-listers hit the red carpet including Wintour herself, Elizabeth Hurley and Elton John. 

Fans of the hit film The Devil Wears Prada have long assumed that Meryl Streep’s fashion editor character Miranda Priestly was based on Wintour, who in the musical is played by Vanessa Williams, 61.

However back in 2019 co-star Emily Blunt said the Oscar winner did not use the Vogue editor as inspiration and told the NPR podcast: ‘Meryl didn’t actually base it on Anna Wintour. Well, she told Anna that. She based it on two men in Hollywood that she knew – who will remain nameless, but I know who they are. That’s all.’

The film, which was based on Lauren Weisberger’s book of the same title, was said to be loosely based on the author’s real experiences of working at glossy fashion magazine.

The film took over £250 million at the box office, earning Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the glacial fashion magazine editor, with rumours of a sequel in the works.

VOGUE: Inventing the Runway is at Lightroom in London until April 2025