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Chioma Nnadi, a fashion journalist, has been named the new editor-in-chief of British Vogue, succeeding 51-year-old Edward Enninful, who held the role for six years. Nnadi is the magazine’s first black woman editor.
She expressed her joy on Instagram with the caption: “I’m so thrilled to announce that I’m the new head of editorial content for @britishvogue. Huge thanks to Anna Wintour, @edward_enninful, and Roger Lynch for giving me this opportunity. I’m truly honored and so excited to be coming home.”
Nnadi, who is now the editor of Vogue.com, will report directly to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of US Vogue and the chief content officer for all of Condé Nast’s global editions, in her new position.
“Working under Anna, you get a sense of what’s going to be next. I haven’t checked my email, but she’s probably on to the next thing already,” she said, according to The Guardian.
According to the Financial Times, Nnadi worked for magazines such as the Evening Standard Magazine and Fader magazine before joining Vogue in 2010.
According to the Financial Times, Vogue has seen “tremendous audience growth” under Nnadi’s leadership, driving engagement across the website and social media.
She has written cover stories for Vogue that have included celebrities such as Cara Delevingne, Rihanna, and Erykah Badu, and she also co-hosts the Vogue podcast, The Run-Through. She will begin her new post at British Vogue on October 9 in London.
“Is there pressure? Yeah, there’s definitely pressure—it’s Vogue. It still means something to be in Vogue, it still has authority. [And there’s pressure] because of Edward. He broke new ground. It’s more than being part of a magazine – it’s part of the cultural conversation,” Nnadi shared with The Guardian in an interview.
In her new role at British Vogue, Nnadi shared that she will focus on creating captivating digital content and maintaining an interactive relationship with readers. Nnadi’s appointment reflects a change in leadership at Vogue’s European editions, with global heads taking over following a company-wide restructuring in 2020.
Nnadi’s ability to engage with the digital audience and enhance Vogue’s reach, authority, and influence across all platforms has been complimented by Wintour. Nnadi was touted as a “beloved colleague” who will focus on “music and culture” as well as fashion.
Despite the fact that Nnadi is a writer and editor, and her predecessor, Enninful, was a well-known stylist, the journalist remarked that she hasn’t lost sight of Vogue’s core goal as a fashion magazine.
She believes that “the impulse is the same, regardless of whether you style or write. Edward had that instinct, even though his background is different to mine. But the question will always be, how do we capture the zeitgeist. It’s important to think about who is telling the story, and whose story we are telling.”
According to the Financial Times, British Vogue experienced a more diverse and eclectic era under Enninful because he championed plus-size and transgender models and included celebrities like as Meghan Markle.
Enninful said earlier this year that he would leave the Condé Nast company after the March 2024 issue but will continue to serve as an editorial adviser to the magazine group. This sparked speculation about who might succeed him as a prominent tastemaker for British fashion.
According to CNN, he was “thrilled” to learn of his successor’s selection and characterized Nnadi as “a brilliant and unique talent with real vision, who will take the publication to ever greater heights.”
