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In 2010, the New York Times’ Guy Trebay flew into San Francisco to write a dispatch from, as he put it, “the land that style forgot.”
It was a classic Times Style section story, the kind of thing designed to gently mock the locals while flattering hometown readers for being so much more sophisticated. (Hey, we’ve all done it.)
While the city couldn’t hold a Gucci sandal to New York or Milan, San Francisco did have its own style in 2010, one that, per Trebay, “like so much else in the Bay Area, seems to be generated by some loopy organic collective impulse rather than an editorial cabal.”
So much for that. In September 2027, that editorial cabal will set up shop here during Vogue World, a one-day activation for all things fashion and advertiser integration.
Never mind that September 2027 is over a year away. (That’s one iPhone and four GPT models for those using the San Francisco Calendar.) The local press is already plucking rose petals to throw at the feet of Vogue’s editor emerita Anna Wintour and whatever remains of the skeleton crew putting out the magazine. (I’m not body-shaming the magazine’s famously slender staff, I swear.)
Far from crowning San Francisco a global fashion center, this Vogue World announcement is kind of sad. It’s been a long time since Vogue (or, let’s be honest, any magazine) defined Our Times. Despite being kicked upstairs to become Global Editorial Director of Condé Nast, Wintour is a diminished figure: the magazines she presides over have gotten smaller with each issue. You could’ve broken your (perfectly manicured) toe on Vogue’s 916-page September 2012 issue; today, you’re more likely to get a papercut from its anemic issues.
Wintour was once fashion’s Big Boss, but today she’s closer to Big Edie in Grey Gardens: a figure from a long ago era whose time has passed. Her imperial phase was two decades ago, which, in fashion terms, might as well be two centuries ago. (The iBook G3 "Clamshell’ Era in the San Francisco Calendar.)
It’s been a long, long time since Wintour could plausibly be the subject of a documentary; or ask designers to lose weight before allowing them to appear in her pages (ditto Oprah — freakin’ Oprah!); or shrug off criticism of a blatantly racist cover.
So, for the city and its friendly press to bend the knee for Dame Anna is a bit declasse, as a fashionista in a hacky Netflix series might say.
I mean, it makes sense why the mayor would want Wintour to bring her rolling brand activation to our City by the Bay: Daniel Lurie is probably giddy at the thought of the high hotel bills, the photo ops, and all the designer ribbon cuttings he can post on TikTok. My dude loves any chance to celebrate how back San Francisco is. To quote another diva past her prime: He’d go to the opening of an envelope. (Or a Jollibee.)
For the rest of us without reelection campaigns, Vogue World will probably be a bit corny. Where once Wintour’s dark shades and laser-cut bob were signifiers of her eternal style, today they signal self-parody, a once powerful arbiter of culture hopelessly stuck in time. What does it say that this town is so desperate for star power, we’re making a wish upon such a dimmed one?
So, yeah, Wintour is coming in September 2027. Will anyone even bother to dress for it?
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LOOK WHO’S TALKING: Sam Altman’s parenting hack is pretty much what you’d expect. (Business Insider)
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