Nigerian Chioma Nnadi is British Vogue’s first black female editor
Global media company Condé Nast has appointed Chioma Nnadi to replace Ghanaian Edward Enninful as first Black woman editor of British Vogue, one of the most powerful roles in the fashion industry.
Nnadi will become head of editorial content at the magazine, reporting to Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief at US Vogue and chief content officer across Condé Nast’s global editions. The London-born 44-year-old, Nnadi is currently the editor of the American edition’s digital arm Vogue.com, overseeing digital content for the title.
Enninful, 51, said in June that he would step down from the group after the March 2024 edition but remain as an editorial adviser of the magazine group, sparking fevered speculation over who would replace him in a role as a key taste maker for British fashion.
Under Enninful, British Vogue became a more diverse and eclectic magazine that championed plus-size and transgender models, and featured celebrities such as Meghan Markle. Enninful was long seen as a potential successor to Wintour, who Vogue insiders say shows little sign of loosening her grip on the editorial reins after a decades-long career at the magazine.
The 73-year-old has recently overseen a global “digital-first” strategy where more content has been shared between national editions — a restructuring that sparked upset internally given the loss of some editorial control at a local level.
However, Vogue insiders insist the previous model had led to costly duplication of resources. Nnadi, the first black woman to edit British Vogue, will become one of the global editorial heads that now help run the magazine publisher.
Seen by insiders as loyal to Wintour, Nnadi has emerged as one of the most prominent editors at US Vogue. Wintour has promoted close deputies to international roles since her appointment as chief content officer.
Nnadi started her career on the features desk of the Evening Standard Magazine in the UK before moving to New York to write for Trace, a style magazine. She covered fashion as the style director at Fader magazine before joining Vogue in 2010. Vogue said there had been “tremendous audience growth” under Nnadi’s leadership, driving engagement across the website and social media.
Nnadi has also written recent cover stories on Rihanna, Cara Delevingne and Erykah Badu, and co-hosts the Vogue podcast, The Run-Through. She will begin overseeing British Vogue on October 9, and will be based in London.
Nnadi said: “Now, more than ever, it feels like a moment to look beyond borders while also celebrating the broad scope of what it means to be British.”
Wintour said Nnadi was “an editor and writer with an impeccable reputation — both here and in the fashion industry at large”.
She added that Nnadi had proved “adept at speaking to our digital audience and has found ways to extend Vogue’s reach, authority, and influence across all of our platforms”.
Source: Financial Times
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