Who is Vogue's new editor Chloe Malle? How will the 'proud nepo baby' change the magazine?

Months after iconic pop culture figure Anna Wintour announced she was stepping down as the editor of Vogue's US edition, Chloe Malle has been named as her replacement. 

The 39-year-old has a background in digital media, has been described as "not so buried" in the fashion industry and referred to herself as a "proud nepo baby". 

Here's what we know about the new editor and what this might mean for the magazine's future. 

Who is Chloe Malle?

Ms Malle is a journalist.

She studied literary arts and comparative literature at Brown University before going on to work for the New York Observer and contributing articles to various publications in the US. 

Ms Malle has worked for Vogue for 16 years, starting off as the magazine's social editor in 2011. 

In this role, she was tasked with social and wedding coverage, as well as "contributing across a wide range of topics, including fashion, politics, homes and gardens, beauty, and health", according to an article on Vogue's website. 

She was named a contributing editor for the magazine in 2016, which saw her writing features and "overseeing special projects".

Ms Malle was made editor of Vogue's website in 2023.

Since she took on that role, traffic has doubled, the magazine says.

She's also the co-host of Vogue's podcast called The Run-Through. 

"I've spent my career at Vogue working in roles across every platform — from print to digital, audio to video, events and social media," Ms Malle said. 

Her new title is Vogue's head of editorial content. 

She has two children with husband Graham Albert, who works in the finance industry. 

Who are Chloe Malle's parents?

Ms Malle's mother is actor Candice Bergen who, among other roles in television shows like Murphy Brown and movies like Miss Congeniality, is known for playing a Vogue editor in Sex and the City. 

Bergen's character, fictional Vogue editor Enid Frick, first appeared in the fourth season of the show in 2002 — famously deriding Carrie Bradshaw's prose as not being "Vogue". 

She reprised her role with more guest appearances in season five and six, the Sex and the City movie, as well as the second season of the show's spin-off series And Just Like That. 

Ms Malle's father, movie director Louis Malle, was nominated for three Academy Awards and died in 1995. 

She described herself as a "proud nepo baby" in an interview with the New York Times — a term that's often shrouded in negativity as it references a person with famous, wealthy or well-connected parents who benefits from nepotism. 

Ms Malle told the newspaper it would be "delusional" not to acknowledge her upbringing. 

"There is no question that I have 100 per cent benefited from the privilege I grew up in," Ms Malle said. 

"I will say, though, that it has always made me work much harder. 

"It has been a goal for a lot of my life to prove that I'm more than Candice Bergen's daughter, or someone who grew up in Beverly Hills."

How could the new editor change Vogue?

Less print editions

Her pitch to the magazine's publisher, Condé Nast, included major changes to the print edition of Vogue, according to the New York Times. 

This might mean moving away from being published monthly, to printing special editions "around specific themes or cultural moments". 

The idea will be to make them collectible issues printed on thicker paper to give them a feeling of prestige. 

Appealing to niche audiences

Ms Malle told the New York Times she wants focus on curating "a more direct, smaller, healthier audience" rather than appealing to the masses. 

The speculation is that this would mean being more selective with the stories Vogue covers, or focusing on niche takes on broader pop culture moments. 

The newspaper points to the story about singer Taylor Swift's engagement to footballer Travis Kelce as an example. 

While Vogue published a story on the pair's engagement, Ms Malle said Vogue's analysis of Swift's engagement ring outperformed the website's article on the initial announcement. 

This kind of treatment of a trending news story isn't new — particularly for a masthead with a speciality focus like Vogue — so it's unclear how this will change under Ms Malle's leadership. 

Taking 'calculated risks'

Ms Malle wrote the digital cover story on Lauren Sánchez Bezos, featuring photos of her wedding to Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos. 

The choice of prominently featuring the pair's wedding was criticised by some, particularly amid protests from locals about the impact of their lavish celebrations on Venice. 

Ms Malle told the newspaper she received death threats as a result of the article but that it was worth "taking a calculated risk".  

She said that it was something "everyone was talking about" and became "a huge moment for us". 

Ms Wintour referred to Ms Malle's coverage of the Bezos wedding in her statement about her appointment. 

"At a moment of change both within fashion and outside it, we must continue to be both the standard-bearer and the boundary-pushing leader," she said. 

"Chloe has proven often that she can find the balance between American Vogue’s long, singular history and its future on the front lines of the new."

What happens to Anna Wintour?

She hasn't retired — she's staying on as Vogue's global editorial director and Conde Nast's global chief content officer.

In fact, she's not even moving out of her office at Vogue headquarters. 

And while Ms Malle is now Vogue's editor, she's still reporting to Ms Wintour. 

Ms Wintour said she would be a "mentor" to Ms Malle, but also "her student". 

"[I] feel incredibly fortunate to still have Anna just down the hall as my mentor," Ms Malle said.