Fashion journalist Chioma Nnadi has been chosen as the new leader of British Vogue, taking over from 51-year-old Edward Enninful, who held the position for six years. This makes Nnadi the first black woman to edit the magazine.
She expressed her joy on Instagram with the caption: “I’m so thrilled to announce that I’m the new head of editorial content for @britishvogue. Huge thanks to Anna Wintour, @edward_enninful, and Roger Lynch for giving me this opportunity. I’m truly honored and so excited to be coming home.”
Currently serving as the editor of Vogue.com, Nnadi will directly report to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of US Vogue and the chief content officer for all of Condé Nast’s global editions, in her new role.
“Working under Anna, you get a sense of what’s going to be next. I haven’t checked my email, but she’s probably on to the next thing already,” she said, according to The Guardian.
Before joining Vogue in 2010, Nnadi worked for publications like the Evening Standard Magazine and Fader magazine, according to Financial Times.
Vogue said there had been “tremendous audience growth” under Nnadi’s leadership, driving engagement across the website and social media, according to the Financial Times.
She has written cover stories featuring well-known personalities such as Cara Delevingne, Rihanna, and Erykah Badu, and also co-hosts the Vogue podcast, The Run-Through. She will officially step into her new role at British Vogue on October 9 in London.
“Is there pressure? Yeah, there’s definitely pressure—it’s Vogue. It still means something to be in Vogue, it still has authority. [And there’s pressure] because of Edward. He broke new ground. It’s more than being part of a magazine – it’s part of the cultural conversation,” Nnadi shared with The Guardian in an interview.
In her new role at British Vogue, Nnadi shared that she will focus on creating captivating digital content and maintaining an interactive relationship with readers. Nnadi’s appointment reflects a change in leadership at Vogue’s European editions, with global heads taking over following a company-wide restructuring in 2020.
Wintour has praised Nnadi’s ability to connect with the digital audience and expand Vogue’s reach, authority, and influence across all its platforms. She described Nnadi as a “beloved colleague” who will focus on “music and culture” as much as fashion.
Despite the fact that Nnadi is a writer and editor and that Enninful, her predecessor, was a well-known stylist, the journalist stated that she hasn’t lost sight of Vogue’s primary objective as a fashion magazine.
She believes that “the impulse is the same, regardless of whether you style or write. Edward had that instinct, even though his background is different to mine. But the question will always be, how do we capture the zeitgeist. It’s important to think about who is telling the story, and whose story we are telling.”
The Financial Times noted that under Enninful, British Vogue saw a more diverse and eclectic phase because he championed plus-size and transgender models, and featured celebrities such as Meghan Markle.
Enninful disclosed earlier this year that he would step down from the Condé Nast group after the March 2024 edition but would stay on as an editorial adviser for the magazine group. This caused many to speculate over who would replace him in the role of a key tastemaker for British fashion.
According to CNN, he stated that he was “thrilled” at the news of the appointment of his successor and described Nnadi as “a brilliant and unique talent with real vision, who will take the publication to ever greater heights”.
