rumor mill

Rumor: Carine Roitfeld to Replace Anna Wintour Next Month (UPDATED)

The expletives are yearning to burst forth from our fingers as we type, for we can scarcely believe the latest chapter in the rumors about Anna Wintour’s imminent retirement. Gawker is reporting that, according to recent buzz at the Waverly Inn, Condé Nast overlord Si Newhouse is meeting with French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld in Paris to iron out details of her takeover of American Vogue from Anna, which will occur right after New Year’s. It seems Si left early for his annual three-week vacation in Vienna to meet with Carine, raising many a Condé Nast eyebrow. Condé Nast eyebrows were also raised, Gawker reports, when A-Dubs told a Cut reporter who asked about her purported retirement to “just go away” at the National Book Awards last month.

True, Anna’s grand Vogue empire has dwindled to something more like a small, rural village in the economic downturn — Men’s Vogue is holding on for dear life as a biannual supplement to Vogue, Vogue’s newsstand sales and ad pages are down, and Fashion Rocks has been put on hiatus. But we can scarcely imagine anyone but Anna running it. That said, we heart the hell out of Carine, and if Anna must be replaced in the New Year, we’d love to see her take the wheel. Nonetheless, these are all just rumors, so who knows what could happen? Maybe Si just wanted to go shopping at Colette.

Anna Wintour Said Replaced By French Counterpart [Gawker]

Related: In Which We Offend Anna Wintour and She Shoos Us Away

Update: Si Newhouse has issued a statement through a spokesperson denying the rumors. “There’s no truth to it,” he said this afternoon. “This is the silliest rumor I ever heard.” Guess Julia Restoin-Roitfeld was right.

S.I. Newhouse on Anna Wintour Speculation: “Silliest Rumor I Ever Heard” [WSJ]

Rumor: Carine Roitfeld to Replace Anna Wintour Next Month (UPDATED)