Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour insists that the fashion industry needs to ‘rethink’ what it stands for once the coronavirus pandemic has passed.
She told supermodel Naomi Campbell during an interview on her YouTube program No Filter With Naomi that she thinks people’s values ‘are really going to have shifted’ because of the crisis.
Anna, 70, added that the amount of waste and excess in the industry will need to be reconsidered as a result of COVID-19.
Speaking out: Anna Wintour has shared a warning about the future of the fashion industry while appearing on Naomi Campbell’s YouTube series No Filter With Naomi on Wednesday
Looking ahead: The 70-year-old Vogue editor-in-chief said that the industry will never be the same again after the COVID-19 pandemic because people’s ‘values will have shifted’
Scaling back: Anna, pictured at Milan Fashion Week in February, insisted that the ‘waste’ and ‘excess’ that is so prevalent in the industry at the moment will no longer be tolerated
‘I feel very strongly that when we come out at the other end – which we will do – that people’s values are really going to have shifted,’ she said.
‘I think it’s an opportunity for all of us to look at our industry and to look at our lives, and to rethink our values, and to really think about the waste, and the amount of money, and consumption, and excess – and I obviously include myself in this – that we have all indulged in and how we really need to rethink what this industry stands for.’
The fashion editor said that there will need to be ‘more of an emphasis on sustainability’ and ‘more of an emphasis on luxury, on creativity, [and] on craft’.
She added: ‘We need to celebrate the art of fashion, and the design of fashion.’
Anna noted that the industry needs to ‘slow down’ and that people should ‘enjoy it much more’ without always be looking for the next new thing.
‘There isn’t any time to just look and think, and enjoy it,’ she said, while discussing the Vogue x CFDA initiative, A Common Thread, which aims to raise awareness and much-needed funds for those in the fashion industry who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
She added that, moving forward, people should expect to see a much more scaled-down version of Fashion Month, noting that it has become clear there need to be less shows and lavish events, and more focus on the actual artistry that fashion is supposed to be about.
‘It’s almost as though we needed this terrible event to make us really understand that it’s not about needing to change, we have to change, we are going to change,’ Anna added.
Despite her grave warning about the industry, the Vogue editor-in-chief says she has been impressed with people’s response to the pandemic, while praising those who are ‘acting in the right way’ by self isolating and wearing face masks.
As we know her… Anna, pictured at the 2019 Met Gala, also spoke about canceling this year’s event, noting that she and the organizers did what was best for the safety of everyone involved
No more: The Vogue editrix, pictured at London Fashion Week in February, warned that Fashion Week will likely be a much more scaled-down affair in the future
‘I think… everybody is acting in the right way, they’re staying home, they’re staying safe, they’re wearing masks when they go out in the street, they are caring about their communities and their friends and their neighbors and their families,’ she said.
‘This terrible pandemic has brought people together in their time of suffering,’ Anna added.
When asked by the supermodel what her advice is for everyone moving forward, the Vogue editrix had a few very clear words of wisdom: ‘Wear your masks, wear one of those wonderful masks that the fashion industry is working so hard to produce, and please listen to what the medical advisors are telling us, they’re the ones that have the knowledge.’
Green living: She also called for more focus on sustainability, and a move away from fast fashion
As for her own time in quarantine, Anna – whose doctor son Charlie Shaffer contracted coronavirus while working in a New York hospital – revealed that she has been hunkering down in her Hamptons home with ‘different members of her family’ while trying to adjust to her new normal.
The 70-year-old even confessed to taking up running, which she described as offering her a great ‘release’ from the stress and tension of the pandemic.
‘It’s certainly a different way of conducting your life,’ she admitted. ‘I’m on Zoom day in, day out, and I think the most difficult thing is that time kind of merges… hours merge into hours and you don’t really have a sense of accomplishment the way you do in a more traditional work day.
‘I’m constantly in touch with my colleagues, the good news is they’re all safe and healthy. [But] we all miss a human connection.’
While Vogue is still pushing forward with its next issue, Anna’s other main project, the Met Gala, was called off last month, after the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that it would be closing its doors until July.
Discussing the decision to cancel the event, Anna confessed that she was disappointed, but said that she and the other organizers had to do what was best to ensure the health and safety of everybody involved.
‘The museum had made the decision that it was going to be closed until the end of July, so once they made that decision there was no option,’ she shared.
‘It’s a magical night and one that I care deeply about, and obviously we raise a great deal of much-needed funds for the Costume Institute but we are hopeful that we will be opening the exhibition in October.’
Homebody: Anna has been in lockdown at her home in the Hamptons, and has been sharing rare glimpses into her personal life while there
Something different: While quarantining at home, Anna has been writing regular pieces for Vogue.com in which she discusses how she has been coping during lockdown
Sending a message: Earlier this month, Anna, whose doctor son Charlie has had COVID-19, shared a piece in which she urged everyone to wear masks whenever they go outside
Another future event that Anna is looking forward to? The Presidential Election in November – and she urged everyone to vote for Joe Biden, describing him as ‘someone we can trust’.
‘I’m looking forward to the general election in November and I think we all need to encourage everybody, particularly young people [to vote],’ she said.
‘We need to vote for someone who we can trust, who has experience, and who will tell the truth and that man is Joe Biden, Vice President Biden.’
The famously-private Vogue head has taken a much more outspoken role during the pandemic, penning regular pieces for the magazine’s website, and even sharing images and anecdotes from her time in lockdown.
Just last week, Anna penned an essay about the things she is most grateful for during quarantine – while also pleading with members of the public to wear masks whenever they leave their homes.
She also revealed that her doctor son, Charlie, had contracted coronavirus while working with patients in New York City, explaining in a video for Vogue’s Instagram that the 35-year-old father-of-two was ‘quite ill’ and currently quarantining at home.
‘My son is a doctor. He is currently quite ill and self quarantining at home,’ she shared in the April 6 clip. ‘But when he is able, he will return to the ICU at his hospital.
‘I am so proud of him and so grateful to all the health workers, first responders, nurses and doctors who are fighting to reduce the spread of the virus and to save lives.’