Documenting Vogue at Work

by: Emily Kirkpatrick

There have long been rumors that Anna Wintour would star in another documentary about her almost quarter-century long reign as Editor-in-Chief at Vogue. Many assumed after Wintour’s great displeasure with not only the fictionalized image of herself in The Devil Wears Prada, but also her portrayal in the documentary The September Issue, that she would refuse to let cameras infiltrate her very private life ever again. Hamish Bowles, Vogue’s International Editor at Large, confirmed to New York magazine’s The Cut that HBO will in fact be making a documentary, but with a slightly altered focus. The film will highlight all of the editors at Vogue who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the magazine what it is, rather than an intimate portrait of the woman in charge. Bowles described the film as a look at the editors of Vogue through time who have created some of the most iconic fashion images in history.

The release of HBO’s documentary will also coincide with the publication of a new book by Vogue, The Editor’s Eye, set to hit stores on October 1st. The film will take a look at past fashion editors like Babs Simpson who worked with Irving Penn in the forties and fifties, Polly Mellen who worked with Richard Avedon, all the way up to Grace Coddington’s current work for the magazine. The film is presently being shot by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of World of Wonder in the offices of Vogue and production will continue into the fall. HBO’s Vogue documentary will offer an exclusive chance to viewers to see not only how Vogue has influenced and shaped the industry through time, but also how it has risen to such a place of authority in the world of fashion.