Over the past few decades, we all knew Vogue to be controlled under one of the largest names in the entire fashion industry, Anna Wintour. She is effortlessly an icon through her style, her hair, her sunglasses, her quotes, the famous movies that were inspired by her–such as The Devil Wears Prada– and, of course, bringing immense success to the world-wide fashion magazine, Vogue. In June of 2025, Anna Wintour announced her departure as the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Magazine. Her replacement was heavily awaited, although it was confirmed that the title “Editor-in-Chief- would leave with Anna. The next head of Vogue would be titled as Head of Editorial Content. This, confirmed just a couple months later, would be Chloe Malle. 

Chloe Malle is an American and French fashion journalist who has had major leadership roles at Vogue for over 10 years. She had been multiple different editors during her first few years working for Vogue( Social Editor and Contributing Editor) and eventually became editor of Vogue.com , where she was in charge of the online presence of Vogue. She even co-hosts a podcast called The Run-Through With Vogue. On September 2nd, 2025, it was announced that she would be taking the position as the Head Editor of Vogue. As Anna Wintour explained how she ultimately chose Malle to run American Vogue, she described her as “one of Vogue’s secret weapons when it comes to tracking fashion….she understands fashion’s big picture…her talent has been for original thinking and hard work.” Wintour wanted somebody who wasn’t too deep into the fashion industry that she missed the world outside of the fashion world. Malle has an authentic knowledge of industry where she could connect it to “the changing fabric of modern life”. 

Although Anna Wintour may have stepped down as Editor in Chief, she did not step very far away. In fact, she technically “stepped up”, taking an even higher position at Conde Nast–the company in which Vogue runs under–. She is now the Global Chief Content Officer and Global editor at Conde Nast. With this position, Wintour oversees all international titles, Vogue brand initiatives as well as other properties such as Vanity Fair, Wired and others under Conde Nast. 

As of today, Chloe Malle has been Vogue’s Head of Editorial Content for over 6 months and Vogue definitely seems to be in good hands. She has overseen about 4 issues published in this position so far. Although, as of 2026, Vogue has transitioned from publishing 12 issues per year(monthly) to 8 issues per year. Her first full issue most certainly started off excellent, as Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner were featured on the front cover; a very relevant celebrity duo. The latest Vogue issue came out just a couple weeks ago: The Spring 2026 issue. The cover featured singer Rosalia. Malle explained her vision for this issue for this Spring was a “spectacularly romantic and transporting” theme to bring forth the light, feminine and whimsy yet intellectual tone. 

Just looking at what Vogue has in for this Spring, we can see lots of bold pops of color, especially red which is not a typical color of spring fashion, but it absolutely works! Designers displayed in the spring 2026 issue that convey these bold color palettes for this spring include ralph lauren, with a strong emphasis on reds, Fendi, Chloe, Genny, Manilo Blahnik, Alexander McQueen and Guess.There are also very earthy and cool tone colors and looks, especially designers advertised in the spring issue such as Cartier, Michael Kors, Isabel Marant, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Gucci. There was definitely a large emphasis on the color palettes of these brands, and they reveal what we can expect for Spring fashion very clearly. This issue also included a very emotional and bittersweet article: a tribute to the late Valentino Garavani, an Italian fashion designer, known as one of the biggest “fashion giants” of the industry, who passed away on January 19th, 2026. The past 6 months have been a very pivotal time for Italian fashion; Valentino is the second Italian fashion giant to have died within this time span, as Giorgio Armani passed away in September of 2025. Also, the 2026 Winter Olympics were held in Milan, Italy, which is one of the fashion capitalists of the world; they too honored Armani and Valentino. Malle  and those at Vogue have done an excellent job of showing the importance of italian fashion over these past few months through her latest issues 

Whether you read Vogue daily or not, anybody with ears has heard of Anna Wintour in their lives. She has and will always be the most iconic face of Vogue. However, Chloe Malle was an excellent choice for this position; she keeps the traditional feel of Vogue as we all know, but also incorporates her own ideas into the issue. One significant change seen between Wintour and Malle’s Vogue issues is the design of the front cover. Wintours covers were very celebrity driven; less focus on the boldness and design of the aesthetic and more focus on who was displayed. Wintour’s covers were always subtle, yet classic and Malle’s covers seem to be very modern. There is definitely more emphasis on the boldness, clothing and aesthetic and more textured. Just this past month, Malle released the spring 2026 issue which featured Rosalia wearing a Dior couture dress in a sheer, ruffled and elegant ivory designer by Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson. One of Anna Wintour’s most famous covers is her debut issue in November of 1988, which featured Israeli model Michaela Bercu. The background was very out of focus, with just neutral colors recognized of what seemed to be a street, and the main focus was on Bercu. Her clothing was subtle, and the emphasis was put on Bercu herself, not just the aesthetic. Her expression is very carefree, and the vibe of the cover has an overall subtle, nostalgic and definitely very celebrity driven, which does not exactly align with Malle’s recent issue covers. However, the top she was wearing in the cover was still certainly eye-catching, as it was a $10,000 Christian Lacroix beaded jacket! 

Both Wintour and Malle are extremely talented figures of the fashion industry, but they clearly have their own ways, which shows strong leadership. I asked students here at BHS what key differences they notice between two Vogue covers. One of them is a cover under Wintour, and another is a cover under Malle. The students do not know which is which, until they give their answer.

The covers provided for the students include these for Wintour and Malle

Wintour Cover 1: September 1989 Naomi Campbell 

Wintour Cover 2: September 2018 Beyonce 

Wintour Cover 3: December 2020 Harry Styles 

Malle Cover 1: October 2025 Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid 

Malle Cover 2: December 2025 Timothee Chalamet

Malle Cover 3: Spring & February 2026 Rosalia 

I showed BHS Junior Danielle Betwinek Wintour cover 1 and Malle cover 1. After analyzing both covers, Danielle explained, “I think the first cover [Wintour] looks more nostalgic, or older, especially with the quality of it and the colors used.” 

Then, I showed BHS Junior Diya Syangbo Wintour Cover 3 and Malle Cover 2. Both were December issues. The December 2025 Timothee Chalamet cover brought a very new perspective of Vogue to viewers, it had a very modern touch to it that had been different than the aesthetic of many other Vogue covers. Diya explained, “The Timothee cover surprised me a lot when I first saw it. I think there are a lto of contrasting things happening in the cover, like how Timothee is sort of in outer space but has a floral pattern on his pants. It would definitely be a memorable Vogue cover, it really stands out! I actually think the Harry Styles cover looks most modern because it looks very realistic and bright.”

BHS Senior Tara Gyaltsen looked at Wintour Cover 2 and Malle cover 3. “I love the colors used in the Rosalia cover, it brings out the aesthetic of the cover. I also really like Beyonce and I love how she’s dressed in her cover.”