Memory of former friend threatens to ‘shoot down’ Anna Wintour

Every two years, Anna Wintour chairs the star-studded Met Gala on the first Monday in May.

The 2020 event would have been especially significant, marking the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the theme “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” writes the New York Post.

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But this year, Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and artistic director of Condé Nast, is making headlines for less festive reasons.

Last week, memoirs from former Vogue editor André Leon Talley revealed that his long friendship with Wintour has left him with “huge emotional and psychological scars.”

Talley, 70, said he helped his career grow, but “is not capable of being human.”

“I wonder, when she goes home alone at night, is she miserable? Does she feel lonely?”

But experts say the dispute is “vindicating” the countless people in the fashion industry who have felt rejected by Wintour over the years.

Originally, Talley’s book was due to launch in May the same week as the Met Gala, but the pandemic led to September. But with the excerpts creating so much interest, the book will be released on May 19, a terrible time for Wintour.

“He cannot be about to defend himself publicly. He loses a great platform (with the cancellation of the Met). It is his main event and a big windfall for the magazine,” says the book’s publisher.

Talley told Womenswear Daily that she sent Wintour a draft of her book, making some changes that she requested. But sources said the New York Post Wintour was extremely injured by his personal attacks on her.

A Condé Nast source says [she] “He thinks he has lost his marbles and doesn’t understand why he would do this.”

A source close to Wintour said that she was the only person capable of leading the fashion world through a crisis like the one she faces with Covid-19.

“No one has brought the fashion community together as consistently as it has to create efforts to benefit our industry in times of need.

“She is still a force for good. More than ever right now, she is the person you want in charge.”