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 It's a busy day on the 12th floor of the Conde Nast building in
Times Square in New York City, where Vogue creative director
Grace Coddington is preparing a four-day fashion shoot in Paris.
But Coddington seems unruffled. After all, she's been at this for
three decades: 15 years as the creative director of Vogue, and 19
before that at its British counterpart.
At 62, Coddington is easily the world's most influential fashion
editor, famous for transforming photographic spreads into
narratives, a signature she pioneered in the 1970s at British
Vogue. Although other magazines have since adopted this style,
she pulls it off with a witty, modern romanticism that makes
readers feel they are flipping through a picture book instead of
just looking at shots of models in pretty clothing. "I like fairy
tales, and I like dreaming. I try to weave the reality into the
dream," she says. "When readers pick up Vogue, I want them to
smile. Everything should be a little tongue in cheek, a little
dare-to-go-there."
Spotting trends before they're trendy and molding them into a
consistent vision account for only a small fraction of
Coddington's success. The rest is due to persistence. Legendary
fashion photographer Arthur Elgort, who has traveled across the
globe with Coddington, says they get together before every shoot
to scout out locations. "There are a lot of hit-and-run editors,
but Grace follows an idea from its conception to it actually
going to print. The job isn't over until she has seen all the
pictures and has annoyed the art department," he says. When she
presents an idea to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, she fights for it.
"[Anna and I] trust each other," Coddington says. "We argue like
crazy, but I think she respects me, and I certainly respect her."
Their biggest point of contention is putting celebrities on the
pages of the magazine. "There are no models on covers anymore.
They're all actors because they're what sells," says Coddington.
"An actor often dictates what you're going to get. I find that
annoying. And I'm incredibly shy, so they scare the pants off me.
But I feel perfectly comfortable with the models. They're like my
kids."
Coddington herself was a model in 1960s London. She was raised in
Anglesey, a remote Welsh island, where her parents ran a hotel.
At 18, she left home for London, where she won a Vogue model
contest. After a few years of modeling, she began working for
British Vogue, where she introduced her narrative spreads, more
color and a broader sense of style.
Coddington's favorite projects are the 20-page layouts. The
recent Paris shoot for this December's Vogue is themed Alice in
Wonderland and features 10 designers, each cast as a character.
Just picture it: Karl Lagerfeld as the March Hare.
—By Nadia
Mustafa
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