Suzy Menkes | Source: Getty Images
By Chavie Lieber July 1, 2020 15:29
NEW YORK, United States - Veteran fashion journalist and Vogue International editor Suzy Menkes is stepping down from her position.
In a statement posted on Condé Nast International's website, the publisher announced that because of Menkes' departure, scheduled for October, as well as "ongoing uncertainty" from Covid-19, the annual Condé Nast Luxury Conference, that has been run by Menkes for the last five years will be cancelled as well.
Menkes previously worked as the fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune, a position she held for 26 years until she left for Condé Nast in 2014. Her work appears in 21 international Vogue editions and is translated into 15 languages.
Condé Nast declined to comment. Menkes did not immediately respond for comment.
Menkes is leaving her position while her employer faces turbulent times. Advertising dollars across the media industry have plunged during the coronavirus pandemic, as fashion brands big and small cut their marketing budgets. The conference business has been hit especially hard because of Covid-19. In May, Condé Nast laid off 100 employees in the US; it also instituted salary reductions in April. Earlier this week, Stuart Emmrich stepped down as editor of Vogue.com.
Condé Nast is also reckoning with allegations of racial discrimination and other workplace misconduct. Several senior editors and executives have resigned, including the editor of Bon Appetit. Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast Artistic Director Anna Wintour has apologized to her staff for "hurtful and intolerant" material.
As one of fashion's most high-profile and independent voices, Menkes was one of Vogue's most visible journalists. Leading Condé Nast's luxury conference, she brought some of the industry's most important names to its stage, including Karl Lagerfeld, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Olivier Rousteing and Naomi Campbell. Social media followers also flock to Instagram for her posts from the front row and backstage at fashion shows.
" Suzy Menkes brought the luxury conference concept to Condé Nast in 2015, which has since travelled the world, with editions taking place in diverse locations," Condé Nast wrote in a statement. "Each year, Suzy, a globally respected authority in fashion, with her expert insight and unique access, has brought together leading luxury, fashion and business figures to discuss the luxury industry's most pertinent topics."
Menkes' commentary in her decades as a fashion critic is legendary. She was famously banned from LVMH fashion shows in 2001 for her criticism. Contributing as a columnist to The New York Times' T Magazine, Menkes also wrote critically about fashion bloggers in 2013, calling the group a "fashion circus." She wrote: "There is something ridiculous about the self-aggrandisement of some online arbiters who go against the mantra that I was taught in my earliest days as a fashion journalist: 'It isn't good because you like it; you like it because it's good.'"
The future of fashion shows is also very much up in the air. Though many brands plan to show in Paris in September, it's not clear what form these shows will take. Some brands have begun showing collections online or skipping fashion week entirely.
Stay tuned for BoF updates to this developing story.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzUGwQS9isg
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