I think what you have to do in print is to create even more memorable images and more memorable pieces because what one consumes online or in social has a much shorter shelf life, so to speak, so what print has to have is no more weight, but it has to be something that you can't find so easily online. It has to really stand for print.
In 1986, I returned to London as editor in chief of 'British Vogue.' Although I still thought of myself as totally English, to my surprise, everyone here thought I was some sort of American control freak.
I look for strong people. I don't like people who'll say yes to everything I might bring up. I want people who can argue and disagree and have a point of view that's reflected in the magazine. My dad believed in the cult of personality. He brought great writers and columnists to 'The Standard.'
It's very important to me that I look good when I go out publicly. I like looking at my clothes rack in the morning and deciding what to pick out. I enjoy fashion.
I learned how important it is to lead and be decisive and to, in a way, empower other people to do their best.
I think I'm decisive, and I like to get things done quickly. So if that comes across as intimidation, I'm sorry to hear it. But it's more in the interest of getting things done.
In my own personal career, I have felt almost the most difficult thing to deal with is someone who doesn't tell you what they are thinking.
It is true that a lot of people are easily distracted online. As a result, too many of us have given up on digital audiences for ambitious work, and this is a mistake.
I have learned that documentary makers are incredibly sneaky people.
In the fact that 'Vogue' is someone that can help guide enormous audiences through this fascinating world, I would like to think we are as influential and actually are now reaching so many more people than we ever dreamt of back in the Fifties or the Sixties.
My father was a newspaper editor, so I was surrounded by journalists my entire life. I think the fact that he was so well known may be why I chose to go into magazines and move to the States at a young age.
By the time I came to the States, I really understood how a magazine works. I came to 'Vogue' as creative director, and three years later I went back to London to be editor in chief of British 'Vogue.'
My first job in the States was as a junior fashion editor at 'Harper's Bazaar,' which I enjoyed, but not for all that long because I was fired by the editor in chief, who told me that I was too 'European.'
After a series of jobs that I prefer not to recall, I was hired in the early eighties as fashion editor of 'New York' magazine.
Finding your way doesn't mean surviving, just as pleasing an audience doesn't mean twisting your editorial around search engine optimization and Facebook algorithms.
The elitist way of looking on the runway, frankly, seems old fashioned.
Previous first ladies seemed to feel the need to wear a sort of uniform, whereas Michelle Obama likes fashion and is very comfortable in fashion. She's happy to mix high and low, and she loves emerging designers. That will do nothing but good for our industry.
Certainly we have made mistakes, but you try and learn from your mistakes. And the most important thing is always to move forward and, I think, empower people to do their best, and to lead. I think people respect that and work better under those circumstances.
To be in 'Vogue' has to mean something. It's an endorsement. It's a validation.
I want 'Vogue' to be pacy, sharp, and sexy - I'm not interested in the super-rich or infinitely leisured. I want our readers to be energetic executive women, with money of their own and a wide range of interests. There is a new kind of woman out there. She's interested in business and money.
