On the eve of New York Fashion Week, the 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 the global editorial director. Her mission: to reconcile heritage and real-time, and make Vogue an influential platform in the age of social media.
What her appointment changes at Vogue US
Chloé Malle, 39 years old, becomes Head of Editorial Content of the American edition of Vogue. The creation, hierarchy, and tone of the flagship title of Condé Nast’s editorial leadership evolve without a brutal break: Anna Wintour, at the helm since 1988, has left the editor-in-chief position of the American edition but remains global editorial director of Vogue and Chief Content Officer of the group. In other words: the new boss operates, for the US edition, under the watchful eye of a tutelary figure who remains 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 just a simple magazine. Moreover, it includes a website, social media, audio, video, and events. In a landscape where the authority of editorial offices has fragmented due to social media and brands becoming media, Malle’s appointment endorses a digital strategy. Indeed, it involves organizing, editorializing, and staging a flow of content and experiences. Thus, one no longer reigns solely from the pages of a monthly magazine.
"I want to shape Vogue by holding together heritage and avant-garde," is now repeated in the corridors. The ambition is clear: repair the editorial value chain in the era of scarce attention. However, one must not give up the aesthetic demand that has made the title’s history.
For the record, Vogue was born in 1892, before being acquired by Condé Nast in 1909, then propelled to the rank of taste arbiter under figures like Edna Woolman Chase and Diana Vreeland. The prescriptive influence, once vertical, now plays out horizontally, between communities, platforms, and influencers. It is this shifting ground 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 position at the time. She then multiplied roles within the editorial team: reporting, special projects, society columns, wedding and party coverage, then editorial direction of Vogue.com starting in 2023. She also co-hosts The Run-Through, the weekly podcast of Vogue.
Under her leadership, Vogue.com has strengthened its pace and audience through various long formats and video portfolios. Additionally, newsletters are embodied by teams, and live events accompany major highlights. For example, the Met Gala led to a significant increase in direct traffic, as did Vogue World. The editorial team highlights a double-digit growth in key indicators 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, mainly tell a method: building the audience around events and retaining through readable editorial appointments.
(For further reading: 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 stint at the Sorbonne. Before Vogue, she cut her teeth at the New York Observer, then collaborated with 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 laborious job interview at the beginning, wearing black tights and worn-out boots. Additionally, she wore an overly conspicuous pashmina, but that did not prevent her from being hired. She then learned fashion on the ground, far from snobbery. The trajectory outlines a cross-disciplinary editor profile, more of a content manager than an authoritarian pope. Moreover, this goes against the clichés often attached to the direction of Vogue.
(References: Candice Bergen, Louis Malle, Brown University, Sorbonne.)
Behind the scenes of a highly watched casting
Since the announcement of Anna Wintour’s withdrawal from the American editorial team, 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. Moreover, it underscores the importance of digital expertise. In a now networked system (ten Heads of Editorial Content distributed worldwide), the ability to work in a network, synchronize teams, and share formats weighs as much as the aesthetic vision.
Vogue US in 2025: sets, pages, and "moments"
The role of a title like Vogue is no longer measured solely in pages or single-issue sales. Proprietary events (Met Gala, Vogue World), collaborations, live experiences, and video platforms count as much as closing an issue. Vogue remains, for the luxury industry, a label: a taste matrix and a narrative framework shared with the 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 rearticulate editorial authority: arbitrate between immediacy (the flow) and depth (the narratives), hold together image and text, event and review. She also inherits an aging readership on paper and a global online audience, volatile but potentially loyal if offered appointments that make sense.
(References: New York Fashion Week.)
Challenges: economic model and cultural authority
Print is no longer the growth engine but retains a value of aura. The general trend is towards shorter issues, thematic editions, and objects to keep. Digital generates volume through audience, advertising inventory, and partnerships. Moreover, events create scarcity through ticketing and exclusive content. Finally, editorialized e-commerce completes the equation. However, the essential remains: cultural influence, hence credibility.
This is where Malle is expected: enhance the quality of fashion storytelling (reporting, reviews, investigations), make room for emerging voices, reconnect creation and society (environment, body, work, diversity). She will also have to navigate a tight budgetary framework, with reduced teams and high performance objectives.
NYFW 2025: New York Fashion Week (September 11–16, 2025)
The first public test of the new direction arrives very quickly: the New York Fashion Week, scheduled from September 11 to 16, 2025. Vogue will play its credibility live: quick reports, cold decryptions, short videos, behind-the-scenes immersion. We will see if Vogue.com manages to maintain intensity without limiting itself to the surface. Additionally, we will check if the editorial team offers angles that go beyond simple runway coverage.
(Calendar: CFDA – Fashion Calendar.)
The driving forces of a "live" direction
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 embodied by identified editors to retain beyond audience peaks.
- Rarer, themed print issues, where photography and fashion literature take center stage.
These axes imply a brand discipline: less noise, more curation (sorting, prioritizing, choosing). They also require rethinking photography (less carbon production, more local creation, 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 high tutelage: Anna Wintour’s succession in the background
It would be naive to believe that everything changes overnight. Anna Wintour remains at the center of the global architecture: Vogue remains a network articulated around her international direction. The challenge for Chloé Malle will be to hold her line within this framework: embody the American edition, give breath to the teams, and capture brain time from a saturated audience.
To achieve this, the new boss can rely on a solid relational capital and an intimate knowledge of the house. However, it is her editorial demand that will determine if Vogue can once again prescribe rather than amplify. This matters more than her address book.
Biographical references
- Birth: 1985 (United States).
- Parents: Candice Bergen, actress, and Louis Malle, filmmaker.
- Studies: Brown University (comparative literature), year at the Sorbonne.
- Career: New York Observer, freelancing for the American press, Vogue (since 2011), Vogue.com (editorial direction from 2023), podcast The Run-Through.
- Position: Head of Editorial Content of Vogue US.
Key takeaways
The appointment of Chloé Malle highlights a generation of editors born with the web. Moreover, they are familiar with the formats and rhythms of the social era. Vogue does not abandon its heritage, it changes its metric. If Malle succeeds in reconciling style and narrative, demand and real-time, the American edition could regain a cultural authority that algorithms alone will never provide.