Why Did Anna Wintour Step Down From 'Vogue'? Here's What We Know About Her Departure

The editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour, announced that she is stepping down from the fashion magazine. Anna joined Vogue in 1988, and she told her staffers about her departure during a meeting on June 25, per People.

Vogue is the magazine known as the “fashion bible,” and it has been a staple in the fashion industry for decades, partly due to Anna. She took over the magazine from Grace Mirabella and used her vision to make changes that resonated for decades. Her first cover for Vogue featured Israeli model Michaela Bercu wearing a $10,000 haute couture Christian Lacroix jacket paired with $50 stonewashed Guess jeans.

The fashionista also became the chair of the Met Gala in 1995, and it became a staple for the fashion industry.

The reason Anna stepped down as the editor-in-chief is not yet known, at least publicly. The fashion icon will remain at Condé Nast, Vogue's publisher, as the global chief content officer and global editorial director of the magazine. Condé Nast also publishes GQ, Vanity Fair, AD, and The New Yorker.

While the reason for Anna stepping down isn't available, she has been wearing dark sunglasses in public for some time, leading to speculation that she has some vision issues or other health issues.

Anna — who was born in 1949 — told the BBC in 2024 that wearing the shades helps her to see.

“They help me see and they help me not see,” she said. “They help me be seen and not be seen. They are a prop, I would say.”

She also told CNN back in 2019 that she has several reasons for sporting shades, including avoiding people knowing what she's thinking. Anna also revealed that she'd had eye surgery.

“They help me when I’m feeling a bit tired or sleepy,” she added. “And maybe they’ve just become a crutch in part of who I am. But today I really did need them. I’ll be brutally frank. I have been unbelievably ill all week. And, plus, I just had eye surgery, so those are the real reasons I’m wearing them today.”

In 2012, Anna talked about her first cover for Vogue, which featured Michaela while she was pregnant.

"It was so unlike the studied and elegant close-ups that were typical of Vogue’s covers back then, with tons of makeup and major jewelry. This one broke all the rules,” she wrote.

"Afterwards, in the way that these things can happen, people applied all sorts of interpretations," she added. "It was about mixing high and low, Michaela was pregnant, it was a religious statement. But none of these things was true. I had just looked at that picture and sensed the winds of change. And you can’t ask for more from a cover image than that.”

Anna received the Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden in 2025.

"The daughter of a former newspaper editor, Anna Wintour has used her creative talent, taste, and style for decades to redefine fashion journalism in America and around the world," he said.

"Pushing creative boundaries, she uses fashion as a mirror to reflect our culture and helps the next generation of entrepreneurs and designers define their vision and find their voice," Biden added. "From the pages of magazines to runways and red carpets, Anna Wintour has cemented her legacy as a global fashion, cultural, and business icon."

Hear, hear!