As racial unrest and black boxes sprang forth in abundance in early June, Condé Nast Artistic Director Anna Wintour made a startling but not surprising admission:
“I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators,” Wintour wrote in a note to staff. “We have made mistakes too...I take full responsibility for those mistakes.
“It can’t be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you. I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will,” she added.
On Monday, Wintour, who recently helped issue a $1 million grant to Harlem’s Fashion Row through the launch of the CFDA/Vogue A Common Thread Fund, made another step in remedying those so-called “mistakes,” announcing the promotion of Vogue.com Fashion News Director Chioma Nnadi as the site’s new editor-in-chief.
“I am so thrilled that Chioma will be the new editor of Vogue.com,” said Wintour in a release obtained by Fashionista. “Above all, we know her as someone who intuitively understands fashion and brings to it a genuine love of discovery. She looks in unexpected places and all over the world to find out who is doing the best work and who we should be celebrating now. I absolutely rely on her eye and her cosmopolitanism and her taste. Even better, she is forward-looking and understands that Vogue needs to reach new audiences and do so in new ways.”
Nnadi’s ascension to the editorial helm of the Vogue digital masthead has been a decade in the making. After stints at London’s Evening Standard Magazine, Trace, and as Style Director at Fader, Nnadi became a fashion writer at Vogue in 2010, promoted to Fashion News Director in 2014. With her newest promotion, she joins British Vogue’s Edward Enninful and Teen Vogue’s Lindsay Peoples Wagner among the Black editors-in-chief within the Vogue global franchise. Recent weeks have also seen the announcement of Dawn Davis as the new editor-in-chief at fellow Condé Nast imprint Bon Appetit, Simone Oliver as the new editor-in-chief of Refinery29, Asad Syrkett taking over the editorial reins at Elle Decor, and Tiffany Reid as vice president of fashion at Bustle Digital Group (h/t Fashionista).
Nnadi acknowledged her latest achievement simply and succinctly on Instagram, writing: “Super excited for the road ahead in my new role as editor of Vogue.com.”
So are we. Congrats, Chioma!