A Very Vogue choice.

Chloe Malle is a good choice. She is a safe choice. She is a very Vogue choice. Chloe was previously the editor for Vogue.com and still serves as one of the hosts of Vogue’s podcast “The Run Through”. She is the daughter of a famous actress and a director. She is the essence of what someone who “makes it” in magazines is: someone whose affluent background afforded her the financial freedoms to pursue a low paying career in the editorial world.

She grew up in New York and Los Angeles, likely surrounded by tastemakers and other celebrities. She was exposed to good clothing at a young age. She cut her teeth in the world of magazines and rose through the ranks. Sure, she’s nepo, but she leveraged it along with real work. She’s fresh, she hopefully will have new perspective. I think someone with a background and focus on the digital can ideally be exactly what Vogue needs. It’s a legacy brand whose relevance is buoyed by history and name. Creatively, it leaves much to be desired. It hasn’t felt “alive” for quite some time. I want to think Malle is the right choice for the role. That is to say, I’m not surprised by the pick, but I hope I will be surprised by what comes of it. I think Vogue needs to make big changes if it wants to remain relevant.

Changes that will require a leader who isn’t afraid to step in tradition and tear things down that are no longer working. I think coming up inside the belly of the beast might make it hard to be as critical as Malle needs to be. But, I think I could be proven wrong. I want to see Vogue win, I want to see Malle win. I hope the safe choice will turn out to be the correct choice.