The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Anna Wintour Vogue

Vogue stalwart Grace Coddington steps down as creative director after 28 years

Author

By Jessica Goodfellow, Media Reporter

January 20, 2016 | 2 min read

Grace Coddington is to step down as American Vogue’s creative director after 28 years in the role to take up projects outside of the magazine.

Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hired Coddington as creative director in 1988, her first year at the magazine.

Under the title 'creative director at large', Coddington will still produce at least four editorial spreads a year as well as keep an office and assistant at its Manhattan headquarters.

However, she willl reduce her responsibility at American Vogue to pursue projects outside of the magazine, which she has previously not been allowed to do.

In an interview with Business of Fashion, Coddington said: "I’m not running away from Vogue, because it has opened so many doors. But it will be nice to collaborate, and nice to go out [and] give talks to people. It’s just another approach. I’m certainly not going into retirement. I don’t want to sit around.

"Anna and I always check in with each other. It grew out of those conversations. I guess I kept going to her and saying, ‘Do you mind if I do a book, do you mind if I do a thing?’ She has always been really respectful of me, just as I am respectful of her. She saw that I wanted to branch out a little bit."

A spokesperson from American Vogue said: "After more than 25 years at American Vogue, Grace Coddington will assume the role of creative director at large and take on additional projects outside the magazine. She will work on several Vogue fashion shoots throughout the year."

It is understood that there are no plans to rehire for the creative director role at the magazine.

Anna Wintour Vogue

More from Anna Wintour

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +