June 7, 2011 |
FROM THE VOLT (WINTER 2010)
GRACE MIRABELLA: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AMERICAN VOGUE (1971-1988)
Before Anna (BA), there was Grace. The original Vogue powerhouse, La Mirabella redefined what it meant to be a modern woman. She was the modern woman. She took over the helm from Diana Vreeland, causing quite the stir, for even though she had been at Vogue for 21 years, and under Vreeland’s tutelage for eight, she was nothing like her predecessor.
Flamboyance, miniskirts and the “youthquake” were not her. Nor was she some “society girl”, as most Vogue girls before and after her had/have been. Indeed, she described herself as being born in Philip Roth’s Newark, and New Jersey as being “more than a place; it’s an adjective”. But then, what she did care what her peers thought? Her opinions of them were hardly flattering.
What she did care about, though, was her readers and style. “Style is how a woman carries herself and approaches the world,” she said. “It’s about how she wears her clothes and it’s more: an attitude about living. Dressing up in the most expensive thing around has nothing to do with style. Style transcends money, fashion trends, ‘prettiness’.”
And, under her, Vogue did indeed become a very stylish magazine, reflecting not only her lifestyle, but also those of the million-odd American women it reached, women who were, for the first time, increasingly having to juggle the responsibilities of “having it all”. She was their queen, overcoming the same day-to-day struggles they were, showing that it could be done with ease and flair. She pioneered, long before Donna Karan, the capsule wardrobe, albeit one designed by Halston.
Her pages never alienated, and apart from a few controversies, such as Deborah Turbeville’s steam room fashion story, didn’t scare. Rather, they hailed the birth of and celebrated the modern woman as we know her today.
by Natalie Dembinska
