Anna Wintour
👤 PersonAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
One of the most remarkable things I discovered researching Anna was that she didn't just change magazine covers.
She changed how culture talks about clothing.
The supermodel era ended not because models became less beautiful.
It ended because beauty without story is just a wallpaper.
And nobody subscribes to wallpaper.
Anna was busy, busier than she'd ever been, and she developed an assistant system that reveals something profound about how power operates in elite institutions.
She would employ up to three assistants at any given time, each with specific roles that collectively insulated her from administrative tasks that were not directly related to editorial decision-making.
The system worked like this, first assistant, schedule, and communications.
Second assistant, homes, screenings, and her dogs.
Third, errands, tickets, and custom orders to designers for Anna's personal clothing.
While this may appear as an extravagance, it was math.
Most executives spend 40% of their time on logistics.
100% of her mental energy was spent on work, while an army of other assistants handled everything else.
Think about how powerful that is.
The system was brutal.
Emails without subject lines.