However, there were some indisputable and idiosyncratic guidelines, and by making them known, Anna managed to erect a bubble around her so she never had to be subjected to one of her dislikes.

If you were passionate about something, she respected that. The thing that she couldn’t stand was if you didn’t give a crap.”

Two people familiar with Anna’s thinking in the late nineties and aughts said her decisions about casting models and cover subjects for Vogue stemmed mostly from instinct about what would resonate with her audience, rather than feeling she should make special effort to spotlight people from underrepresented groups.

He loved what he did, and it was so inspiring growing up in a house full of journalists and editors and always being aware of what was happening in the world. It made me love the news and it made me love culture. It was all around us and he brought what he did home and those kinds of people—politicians, editors—they were at the house at all times.

He remarked in his memoir, “This was Condé Nast! This was Vogue!” Talley said later that he was unaware that his expenses were a concern, and Anna never addressed them with him. But that was typical of Anna, who avoided confrontation.

Suddenly to have an editor who was keenly interested in understanding every element that was going to go into the finished image—so, the choice of photographer and the location and the subjects and hair and makeup, and then every detail of clothing and accessories, what jewelry was going to be put with what outfit, the shoes—nothing in my previous

Representatives for the Kardashians called trying to get them in. “The Kardashians had zero style, and their whole reason for who they were was nothing that tied to Vogue,” said Winston Wolkoff, a significant knock against them being, in Anna’s eyes, that they weren’t known for “making a difference.”

The impact the movie had on her image was incalculable. She was running Big Vogue, her magic touch all the more reason for Condé Nast to put out yet another spinoff, Vogue Living, which would launch before the end of the year. She finished the year 2006 as one of Barbara Walters’s Most Fascinating People, and became a mainstream celebrity, like

No one knew the purpose of the gathering, but they did know that when Anna called for one, if you didn’t arrive early, you were late.