Is Alexandra Shulman's feud with Anna Wintour to blame for her stepping down as editor of British Vogue after 25 years? (And will SamCam's sister get the job?)
- Alexandra Shulman is stepping down as editor-in-chief of British Vogue
- She took up the hugely influential role 25 years ago, and will leave this summer
- Names in the running to replace her include her deputy, Samantha Cameron's sister Emily Sheffield
Editor-in-chief of British Vogue Alexandra Shulman has announced she is stepping down from her role this summer.
The news, which is causing a stir in both fashion and publishing circles, was announced earlier today on Vogue's UK website.
In her statement, Alexandra, 59, admitted it was 'hard to find a rational reason to leave' but she 'wanted to experience a different life.'
However, rumours are already swirling that her feud with the editor of US Vogue, Anna Wintour, could have contributed to her decision.
Scroll down for Alexandra's full statement
Alexandra Shulman, Editor of Vogue, photographed in her London office before the announcement that she was stepping down
Rumours are already swirling that her feud with the editor of US Vogue, Anna Wintour (right) could have contributed to her decision to exit the role
Samantha Cameron's sister Emily Sheffield, pictured left, is currently Shulman's deputy and is being tipped to take over the coveted role
And fashion insiders are already tipping Samantha Cameron's sister Emily Sheffield - currently Shulman's deputy editor, to take over the coveted role.
However, Glamour Magazine editor Jo Elvin is the favourite with bookmakers Coral to land the job, with current odds of 2/1, while British Vogue fashion features director Sarah Harris is also believed to be in the running.
The rivalry between Alexandra and Anna is thought to have begun when Shulman landed the editing job back in 1992.
Anna, who was her predecessor, was said to be among the many voices who complained that Shulman, formerly the editor of British GQ, didn’t have the fashion pedigree to take over the coveted role.
Rumours of discontent between the pair re-surfaced following the airing of a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary about the magazine last year.
The show revealed how Alexandra was going to run an image of Rihanna as the British Vogue May issue cover, but then she discovered the singer was going to be on the cover of the upcoming American Vogue.
In a fit of fury she dumped her planned April cover of Kate Moss and used Rihanna instead, thus robbing Wintour of her exclusive.
Size 16 Ashley Graham describing gracing her first Vogue cover as 'an absolute honour'
Speaking on the show, Alexandra said: ‘I don’t know their exact publication date and I don’t know any of the details of that. All I know is that we agreed that we would have Rihanna.’
A Condé Nast spokesman said the spat over Rihanna had not been personal, adding: 'In the case of Alexandra and Anna, the editors only have the greatest respect for each other.’
Despite the controversy, the tenure of Shulman - who lives in London with her son Sam, 21, and her partner, writer David Jenkins - at British Vogue has been marked with various iconic issues of the magazine.
Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast, the magazine's publisher today said: 'Alex has been the longest-serving and most successful editor of Vogue in its 100 year history.'
One of her most famous coups was having the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, pose for the June 2016 cover - after revealing that Kate had initially turned down the request to be a Vogue cover star.
'Probably every magazine in the world had asked her if she would be on the cover, I should think,' Alexandra said.
Alexandra last year appeared on the BBC documentary Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue
Alexandra visits the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London with the Duchess of Cambridge and Nicholas Cullinan
Kate was the cover star of British Vogue's centenary issue in June, but editor Alexandra Shulman has revealed that she previously turned down requests to appear in the magazine
The British Vogue editor-in-chief with Victoria Beckham at London Fashion Week 2016
'It was the best news when I heard she was going to be on the cover,' she added.
Her December 1999 Millennium Issue, possessing a simplistic page layout and a reflective, mirror-like cover – giving the illusion that its reader was on the front cover – became the highest selling issue of the magazine, with circulation of 241,001.
More recently, her January 2017 issue was one of the first to feature a plus-size model on the cover - with curvy Ashley Graham describing gracing her first Vogue cover as 'an absolute honour'.
The mother-of-one's tenure at Vogue, which began in 1992, has been marked with various iconic issues of the magazine
Alexandra with model David Gandy at the launch party for Inside Vogue: A Diary of My 100th Year in October
Shulman has gained a reputation for going against the grain in the fashion industry.
Speaking about the January cover, she admitted that some fashion houses had 'flat-out refused' to loan clothes to dress size-16 Ashley.
In her editor's letter, Alexandra wrote: 'It seems strange to me that while the rest of the world is desperate for fashion to embrace broader definitions of physical beauty, some of our most famous fashion brands appear to be travelling in the opposite – and in my opinion, unwise – direction.'
While Vogue's statement did not name a successor to the title, it stated that the announcement would be named 'in due course'.
However, speculation is already rife online - with Shulman's deputy Emily Sheffield being the front runner.
A popular, although seemingly unlikely, suggestion is that her supposed rival Anna Wintour - originally from London - could return to the capital to take up the prestigious position.
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