Graydon Carter announced that he was leaving the editor-in-chief position at Vanity Fair a few months ago. His replacement was named soon after: Radhika Jones would taking over one of the most prestigious positions in print media. Jones is a 40-something woman who is extremely qualified for this position: she has a Bachelor’s from Harvard and a PhD in Literature from Columbia. She’s been an editor at the Moscow Times and the Paris Review and the editorial director of the New York Times’ books department. She’s intellectual and she seems cool. Then, last month, she went for her first meeting (as the incoming editor) at One World Trade, which houses Conde Nast’s New York operations. That’s when all of the Vogue editors and staffers decided to publicly shame Jones in the pages of Women’s Wear Daily. All because Jones wore a simple dress with cute tights. From WWD’s November story:
Radhika Jones is learning the ways of One World Trade. Having been named the new editor in chief of Vanity Fair only this week, Jones, 44, headed to downtown Manhattan to get acquainted with the magazine’s staff. But while Jones may have been editorial director of the books department at The New York Times, an alum of Time magazine and The Paris Review, a graduate of Harvard and holds a doctorate in English and comparative literature from Columbia — none of this impressed Condé Nast-ers. They, instead, were aghast over her sense of style.
WWD observed one of the company’s fashion editors in candid conversation with industry peers remarking not on the context of Jones’ first visit, but rather the outfit she wore.
“She seemed nervous. The outfit was interesting,” the staffer noted. According to the fashion editor — who omitted Jones’ admirable literary accomplishments from conversation — the incoming editor wore a navy shiftdress strewn with zippers, a garment deemed as “iffy” at best. Jones’ choice of hosiery proved most offensive, according to the editor. For the occasion, Jones had chosen a pair of tights — not in a neutral black or gray as is common in the halls of Vogue — but rather a pair covered with illustrated, cartoon foxes.
The animal caricatures may have also been too much for Vogue editor in chief and Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour, who is said to have fixed one of her trademark stoic glares upon Jones’ hosiery throughout the duration of the staff meeting. Unnerved by Jones’ choice of legwear — and Wintour’s reaction — the fashion editor proclaimed to her friends: “I’m not sure if I should include a new pair of tights in her welcome basket.” Jones is said to begin her new role on Dec. 11.
There was well-deserved backlash against this bitchy WWD article. It reads like a parody, doesn’t it? Like all of the cool fashion Mean Girls decided that the smart girl’s tights weren’t fashionable enough. Well, I guess Anna Wintour realized that she came across as even bitchier than usual, because at a party welcoming Jones to the Conde Nast team this week, Anna Wintour made sure that everybody got a special gift:
At a party this evening to welcome Jones, Anna Wintour reportedly gifted female partygoers black tights with red foxes, and the male attendees socks with foxes. Condé Nast’s top editors, Glamour’s Cindi Leive, Architectural Digest’s Amy Astley, The New Yorker’s David Remnick, Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Teen Vogue’s Elaine Welteroth, and W’s Stefano Tonchi posed with their new tights and socks in an Instagram.
I’m including the Instagram below. It’s actually a good way to handle it. Can you imagine being Mean Girl’d in Women’s Wear Daily for daring to wear tights-with-cartoon-foxes in Anna Wintour’s presence? But maybe Jones looked great in the tights and Wintour realized that this would be the best trend for 2018. Cartoon foxes for everybody!
Photos courtesy of Getty, Instagram.
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