©️ Emily Weiss

Vogue has officially named Chloe Malle as Anna Wintour’s successor, sparking debate over whether she truly earned the position or if this appointment is thanks to her well-connected background.

The daughter of acclaimed French director Louis Malle and actress Candice Bergen, Chloe has indeed long moved within elite cultural circles. But while her privileged upbringing undeniably opened doors, reducing her to a “nepo baby” discredits her solid 14-year career and steady rise at Vogue.

“Chloe has long been one of Vogue’s secret weapons when it comes to tracking fashion. But she is not so buried in the industry that she misses the world: like the best designers, she understands fashion’s big picture—its role in shaping not just what’s on the runway, but the changing fabric of modern life,” declared Anna Wintour.

Malle began her Vogue career in 2011 as Social Editor, covering high society, weddings, and polished lifestyle that once defined the magazine’s core identity. By 2013, she had become a Contributing Editor, co-editing several of Vogue’s collectible books, including Vogue Living: Country, City, Coast, Vogue and The Met, and Vogue Weddings.

In 2023, she was appointed Editor of Vogue.com, overseeing the brand’s digital strategy. Under her leadership, site traffic doubled, reaching over 14.5 million average monthly unique visitors. She also co-launched the Vogue Vintage Guide, an initiative helping readers appreciate vintage fashion, and introduced Dogue, a viral digital series that features celebrity dogs in editorial-style fashion shoots.

Since 2022, Chloe has also co-hosted The Run-Through, Vogue’s podcast, alongside Chioma Nnadi (Head of British Vogue) and Nicole Phelps (Director of Vogue Runway), featuring conversations across fashion and culture.

Malle’s appointment is by no means “the end of an era,” as many online have claimed about Anna Wintour’s leadership. She remains Global Editorial Director and will continue to oversee Chloe, who intends to shape Vogue’s next chapter in her own voice.

“Placing my own stamp on this is going to be the most important part of this being a success,” she told The New York Times. “There has to be a noticeable shift that makes this mine.”

Among her early plans are limiting monthly print editions in favor of collector-style issues with thicker paper, and shifting editorial focus toward a more niche, fashion-first audience.

Malle also mentioned taking more “calculated risks” as part of her strategy. She recently conducted an interview with Lauren Sánchez after her lavish wedding to Jeff Bezos.

Despite the wedding being one of the most talked-about events of the moment, it received an unexpected wave of criticism and protests. The interview with Lauren was undeniably a bold editorial choice and a clear sign of the more provocative direction Chloe Malle is willing to take.

Whether Chloe Malle will lead a true editorial revolution at Vogue is difficult to predict, particularly without knowing how much space she’ll have to assert her vision, given that Anna Wintour still retains a powerful presence at the top. What is clear, however, is that she has rightfully earned this position and dismissing her career solely on the basis of her privileged upbringing is unfair. 

“There is no question that I have 100% benefited from the privilege I grew up in,” told Chloe to The New York Times. “It’s delusional to say otherwise. I will say, though, that it has always made me work much harder. It has been a goal for a lot of my life to prove that I’m more than Candice Bergen’s daughter, or someone who grew up in Beverly Hills.”

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