Could Vogue be the new best wedding gift? Rumor has it that billionaire Jeff Bezos bought the famous fashion magazine – and parent company Condé Nast – as an over-the-top gift for his new wife Lauren Sánchez.
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At this moment, we cannot confirm a sale. But we can confirm that Anna Wintour has now left the building, concluding her 37-year reign that, through a lot of blood, sweat and tears, has made Vogue the highly elitised couture bible, and nearly untouchable.
A brief overview
Anna Wintour Out, Lauren Sanchez In? – Jeff Bezos Vogue Takeover
Wintour was never an editor; she was a gatekeeper. A gatekeeper in the old-fashioned snob culture. Wintour, the stone-cold biography that still only semi-inspired The Devil Wears Prada, and continuing the legacy of a mostly toxic cultural ecosystem marked up with creative genius. Yes, whatever anybody thinks about Wintour, it is appropriate that the passing of one “difficult boss” permits one less toxic work culture.
Meanwhile, Lauren Sánchez – formerly the tabloid darling investigative entertainment journalist – is everything Wintour is not; she is new money, gaudy, tanned, and glam’d to the max; think small dogs and large yachts, or renting a miniature Venice for your wedding – peak extra!
Sánchez appeared on Vogue’s digital cover, wearing a wedding dress, in June. The internet went wild. Some say that this was the reason Wintour left, and went so far as to say that Bezos had “bought” the cover. The Guardian was very straightforward: “Wintour’s revolution is over. She lost.”
Old Money vs. Algorithm Chic
Wintour occupied minimalism and legacy values, where taste flows from the top down: editors, designers, “those who know.”
But the algorithm has taken the market. TikTok influencers and YouTubers, and other forms of cultural outsiders, have blown through the barricade of elitism like it was ancient history. Aesthetic rage is insane, and more of a “name it”; as the latest and greatest overpriced brands joined the foolishness of capitalism and conspicuous consumption.
Wintour would have previously shunned Sánchez for being “too obvious”, “too try hard”, too nouveau riche, too “extra.” But she now embodies the aesthetic, and perhaps, perhaps, old elites and alleged new elites are not overly different, unless you look at who signs the bottom of the cheque.
You Can Literally Buy Taste
We have been told money cannot buy taste. True. But it can buy whoever tells you what taste is.
If Vogue was the ocean’s great white shark, then Bezos is simply the Orca whale swallowing Vogue whole – and farting it back out at Anna Wintour: “Big mistake. Huge.”
Some say it is a democratization of fashion. But let’s be real; it does not sound democratic, it is just couture, more capitalism. Just like billionaires buy their name on art wings, or rockets or university chairs – it is just another ornamental stratification of ownership in the cultural content industry.
New Players, Same Wall
Will Vogue be any less elitist once Bezos owns it? Probably not. Whoever is gatekeeping – be it through wealth, legacy or a taste-algorithm, another gatekeeper is still a gatekeeper.
And to be honest, do people even wait on Vogue to tell them what is fashionable anymore? We find out from TikTok or just steal it.
If Bezos buys Vogue, it is not an investment. It will be a power play. An aesthetic legitimacy for his wife – and a huge fuck you to support everybody making fun of her gaudy designer taste.
Style may be subjective, but taste lives in the details. Explore our curated collection of fashion-forward and design pieces – handpicked for those who make bold statements.
