Stephanie Winston Wolkoff resigned as Vogue’s director of special events on Thursday. The special events she leaves behind include the all-important Met gala, which Wolkoff ran for the last ten years. Vogue wasted no time replacing Wolkoff with Sylvana Soto-Ward, former accessories editor. Sylvana joined Vogue in 2003 as Anna Wintour’s assistant, so her rise to the top was pretty swift. Heading up the Oscars of the East Coast is no easy task, and Sylvana’s first year doing so could be one of the most challenging in the gala’s history. Fashion Week Daily reports that event budgets have been slashed across Condé Nast. So, in addition to the usual challenges — like lining up the stripes on the zebra carpet — Sylvana might have to make her first Met gala a budget affair. Anna Wintour will undoubtedly want it to at least appear to be just as expensive as always. Good thing Anna is forcing Vogue staffers to learn all about doing things on a budget look at price tags in the recession. But it won’t be that bad! All Sylvana has to remember is that everything at the gala only needs to last for a few hours. And if she serves guests vast quantities of cheap liquor as soon as they arrive, they’ll forget about the plastic cups in no time.
Wolkoff Successor Picked at Vogue [WWD]
Does Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s departure mean the end of the Costume Institute Gala as we know it? [FWD]
