MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: It used to be that to find out what was in vogue, you had to, well, read Vogue. But these days, fashion is everywhere, and you can see the latest trends faster than you can make a phone call. So how does a fashion magazine that's more than 130 years old stay relevant now and into the future? It's Chloe Malle's job to figure that out. She's the new head of editorial content at American Vogue. We met at our New York studios for our video interview series NPR's Newsmakers.
OK.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We are ready when you are.
MARTIN: Well, I just have to tell you, I have never been so nervous about what to wear to an interview.
CHLOE MALLE: Oh. Well, I love the suit.
MARTIN: Well, thank you.
MALLE: It's such a beautiful color.
MARTIN: Thank you. Thank you.
Malle is 40. She's also the daughter of the actress Candice Bergen and the French filmmaker Louis Malle. After launching her reporting career covering real estate and breaking news, she started at Vogue 15 years ago in a very different role.
MALLE: What was then called social editor but had nothing to do with social media. It was someone who was editing the magazine section about weddings, parties, young people who are out and about - the sort of frothy fun section.
MARTIN: So did you have any qualms about that? You're thinking, wait a minute. I'm a serious journalist. I'm not doing that.
MALLE: For sure. I thought, you know, I don't know that I want to be writing about parties all the time. And a section that's called Flash and opens with an It Girl - is that what I want to be sinking my teeth into? And then I went to Vogue, and I interviewed with many people. And every single one was smarter, funnier, sharper than the next, and I thought, oh. This is a place I want to be.
MARTIN: When I asked her why Vogue should matter to people today, Malle recalls one of her predecessors - Edna Woolman Chase.
MALLE: She did an interview at the beginning of World War II. And they said, why is Vogue important right now? Why are you continuing to publish?
MARTIN: Yeah.
MALLE: And she said, Vogue is a publication for gracious living, and that is as important now as ever before. And people living in a way that is compassionate and thoughtful and makes them feel pride and reminds them what they are fighting for is as important as ever.
MARTIN: Malle is looking to build on that idea of gracious living with an expansive vision of what American culture is now.
MALLE: Vogue is a huge platform. And it is a very important endorsement and can be if used correctly. For example, our summer issue, which is out right now, we made the choice that we were going to make it loosely timed to the 250th anniversary of the U.S. And we had many conversations about whether, in this moment of presidential hubris, we wanted to be celebrating America as the only thing we were celebrating. And I felt very strongly that it was. And this was actually the first time that Vogue, in its history, dedicated an entire issue to only featuring American designers. We support this industry, and we are here for American fashion, no matter what the moment in our political establishment we are.
MARTIN: The other thing I noticed about the June issue is that it is quite diverse. I mean, there's one photo shoot that's based in Texas. And there are three sort of featured models, one of whom is Ruth Deng, who's of Sudanese heritage. Her parents came from Sudan. And her...
MALLE: Both her parents...
MARTIN: Both.
MALLE: ...Came from Sudan and were quote-unquote lost children of Sudan separately, and then found each other here. And she has six siblings, who are all in the shoot. And when we were planning this three-day shoot across Texas, we really wanted to photograph at Big Bend National Park. And it was at the moment when the government was threatening to build a wall in the middle of Big Bend, and that - the day we shot the editorial, that plan was pulled back. But it was - I mean, it was right around the time that we were doing it that that was no longer being pushed through. And so, for us, it was about, what if this spectacular vista is no longer here?
MARTIN: But I'm also thinking about, look, these are tall, willowy, dark-complected people whose bodies, whose heritage has not always been seen as beautiful. And what you are saying is - what? What are you saying by doing that?
MALLE: Vogue should be so lucky as to have Ruth and her family in Vogue. And that Texas shoot, to me, is what I would like Vogue to be representing - this idea of living beautifully, no matter what your circumstances, or despite circumstances or because of circumstances.
MARTIN: We're also in a moment of backlash. And I wonder if you ever wonder whether there will be backlash to the different kinds of graciousness that you're bringing to Vogue.
MALLE: I don't worry about that. I think that as long as Vogue is representing people that we really passionately believe in, then if some people don't like that, then that's a choice we've made.
MARTIN: And your advertisers and the designers who want to present there and also the - many of the powerful people who would like to see themselves in Vogue, and what if they - well, I don't want to be in the same magazine as X?
MALLE: Well, that's a shame for them. I - it's a tricky question for me to answer because I can't quite imagine. I'm really proud of who we're featuring and what we're celebrating in our pages, and I think that our commercial and business partners will be as well.
MARTIN: You know, as the person who has been tasked with leading this publication into the next era, does it scare you in a way?
MALLE: I don't feel scared. I certainly think about the future and the dramatic shifts in the digital landscape and the media landscape. But I feel a great privilege to be a steward of this brand, and I think that trusted legacy media brands can and should be more important than ever.
MARTIN: In our interview for NPR's Newsmakers series, Chloe Malle and I talk a lot more about how legacy media is evolving and about how that changes who can be part of shaping the future of Vogue. Find the rest of our conversation on NPR's YouTube channel.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VOGUE")
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