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On the eve of New York Fashion Week, Franco-American Chloé Malle, 39, is appointed Head of Editorial Content of Vogue US. In New York, she succeeds, in a redefined role, the era opened by Anna Wintour, who remains global editorial director. Her mission: realign heritage and real time, and make Vogue an influence platform in the age of social media.
What Her Appointment Changes at Vogue US
Chloé Malle, 39, becomes Head of Editorial Content of the American edition of Vogue. The creation, hierarchy and tone of the flagship title of Condé Nast leadership therefore evolve without a sharp break: Anna Wintour, at the helm since 1988, has left the U.S. editor-in-chief role but remains global editorial director of Vogue and Chief Content Officer of the group. In other words: the new boss operates, for the U.S. edition, under the eye of a tutelary figure still at the top of the international pyramid.
This change shows that Vogue is becoming a multimedia platform, a pillar of Vogue’s digital transformation. Indeed, it is no longer limited to being a simple magazine. It also includes a website, social channels, audio, video and events. In a landscape where newsroom authority has fragmented because of social media and brands turned media, Malle’s appointment seals a digital strategy. It is about organizing, editorializing and staging a flow of content and experiences. Thus, power is no longer exercised only from the pages of a monthly.
“I want to shape Vogue by holding heritage and the avant-garde together,” one now hears in the halls. The ambition is clear: repair the editorial value chain in an era of scarce attention. However, one must not give up the aesthetic standard that made the title’s history.
As a reminder, Vogue was founded in 1892, was bought by Condé Nast in 1909, then elevated to arbiter of taste under figures like Edna Woolman Chase and Diana Vreeland. Prescriptive influence, once vertical, now plays out horizontally, among communities, platforms and influencers. It’s this shifting terrain that Chloé Malle is tasked with orchestrating.
(Context: Vogue (magazine), Condé Nast, Anna Wintour.)
A Career Shaped by Digital
Joining Vogue in 2011, Chloé Malle first served as social editor, a pioneering role at the time. She then took on multiple roles within the newsroom: reporting, special projects, culture columns, coverage of weddings and events, then editorial leadership of Vogue.com from 2023. She also co-hosts The Run-Through, Vogue’s weekly podcast.
Under her leadership, Vogue.com strengthened its cadence and audience through various long-form formats and video portfolios. Newsletters are personified by teams and live streams accompany major moments. For example, the Met Gala drove a strong increase in direct traffic, as did Vogue World. The newsroom highlights double-digit growth in key metrics and a doubling of direct traffic on Vogue.com during event peaks like the Met Gala, awards and major interviews. These figures, provided by the title, primarily tell a method: build audience around events and retain through clear editorial appointments.
(For more: Vogue.com (official announcement), Met Gala.)
A “Daughter Of”… and a Professional
Chloé Malle is the daughter of American actress Candice Bergen and French filmmaker Louis Malle. Born in 1985, she grew up between New York, Los Angeles and summers in France, where her father lived. She studied comparative literature at Brown University, with a year at the Sorbonne. Before Vogue, she cut her teeth at the New York Observer, then contributed to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest and Town & Country.
This pedigree does not erase the learning curve. She herself recounted a rough job interview at the start of her career, wearing black tights and worn ankle boots. She also wore an overly conspicuous pashmina, but that did not prevent her from being hired. She then learned fashion in the field, far from snobbery. The trajectory sketches a cross-disciplinary editor profile, more a content manager than an authoritarian high priestess. Moreover, it runs counter to clichés often attached to Vogue’s leadership.
(References: Candice Bergen, Louis Malle, Brown University, Sorbonne.)
Behind the Scenes of a Highly Watched Casting
Since Anna Wintour announced her withdrawal from the U.S. editorship, several names circulated: Eva Chen (Instagram), Sara Moonves (W Magazine), Nicole Phelps (Vogue Runway) and Chioma Nnadi (British Vogue). The choice of Malle, already at the helm of the site and familiar with the global network, reflects a preference for continuity. It also underlines the importance of digital expertise. In a system now networked (ten Heads of Editorial Content worldwide), the ability to work in a network, synchronize teams and share formats weighs as much as aesthetic vision.
Vogue US in 2025: Studios, Pages and “Moments”
A title like Vogue is no longer measured only in pages or single-issue sales. Proprietary events (Met Gala, Vogue World), collaborations, live experiences and video platforms matter as much as closing a print issue. Vogue remains, for the luxury industry, a stamp: a taste matrix and a shared narrative framework with fashion houses. But its influence is challenged by the social ecosystem where content creators dictate tempos and narratives.
In this context, Malle’s mission is to re-articulate editorial authority: arbitrate between immediacy (the feed) and depth (longform stories), hold together image and text, events and after-the-fact analysis. She also inherits an aging print readership and a global online audience that is volatile but potentially loyal if offered meaningful appointments.
(Reference: New York Fashion Week.)
Challenges: Business Model and Cultural Authority
Print is no longer the growth engine but retains an aura value. The general trend favors shorter issues, thematic editions and collectible objects. Digital generates volume through audience, ad inventory and partnerships. Additionally, events create scarcity via ticketing and exclusive content. Finally, editorialized e-commerce completes the equation. Yet the essential remains: cultural influence, therefore credibility.
This is where Malle is expected to deliver: raise the quality of fashion storytelling (features, criticism, investigations), make room for emerging voices, reconnect creation and society (environment, bodies, labor, diversity). She will also have to navigate a tight budgetary framework, with smaller teams and high performance targets.
NYFW 2025: New York Fashion Week (September 11–16, 2025)
The first public test of the new leadership comes quickly: New York Fashion Week, scheduled September 11–16, 2025. Vogue will play its credibility live: rapid reports, cool-down analyses, short videos, backstage immersion. Observers will watch whether Vogue.com can sustain the intensity without remaining surface-level. They will also check if the newsroom delivers angles that go beyond mere runway coverage.
(Calendar: CFDA – Fashion Calendar.)
Pillars of a “Live” Leadership
Everything indicates that Chloé Malle wants to make Vogue a real-time content machine, without denying the staging that built the brand. Concretely:
- Recurring editorial “moments” (portraits, dialogues, photo series) to establish a recognizable rhythm.
- Short video formats designed for platforms, supported by longer versions on the site.
- Newsletters personified by identified editors to retain beyond audience peaks.
- Less frequent, themed print issues where photography and fashion writing take center stage.
These axes assume a brand discipline: less noise, more curation (sorting, prioritizing, choosing). They also require rethinking photography (less carbon-intensive production, more local creation, use of archives and studio), opening the “front row” to new narratives (young designers, crafts, regional scenes), and better documenting fashion as visual culture.
A Succession Under Close Tutelage: Anna Wintour’s Succession in the Background
It would be naive to believe everything changes overnight. Anna Wintour remains central to the global architecture: Vogue is still a network articulated around her international direction. The challenge for Chloé Malle will therefore be to hold her line within that framework: embody the American edition, energize teams and win mindshare from an already saturated public.
To succeed, the new head can rely on strong relational capital and an intimate knowledge of the house. However, it will be her editorial rigor that determines whether Vogue can again prescribe rather than merely amplify. That matters more than her Rolodex.
Biographical Notes
- Birth: 1985 (United States).
- Parents: Candice Bergen, actress, and Louis Malle, filmmaker.
- Education: Brown University (comparative literature), year at the Sorbonne.
- Career: New York Observer, freelance for the U.S. press, Vogue (since 2011), Vogue.com (editorial leadership from 2023), podcast The Run-Through.
- Position: Head of Editorial Content of Vogue US.
Key Takeaway
The appointment of Chloé Malle highlights a generation of editors born with the web. They are familiar with the formats and rhythms of the social era. Vogue does not abandon its heritage, it changes its metrics. If Malle succeeds in reconciling style and storytelling, rigor and real time, the American edition could regain a cultural authority that algorithms alone will never provide.