13 (Almost Unbelievable) Facts About Anna Wintour

last updated 13 August 2019

According to a quick poll taken around the office, we’re all pretty much fascinated with Anna Wintour. Whether it’s the impenetrable sunglasses, her flawless style, or those rumored antics (see: Miranda Priestley in The Devil Wears Prada), there’s just something about Anna.

If you have the same obsession—and we’re fairly certain most stylish girls do—click through to discover 13 surprising facts about one of fashion’s most powerful women.

The now defunct magazine named Viva had the same publisher as Penthouse.

Check out the groundbreaking cover.

According to T Magazine, Wintour is allotted money to keep up appearances in addition to her salary.

Apparently it ruffled some feathers at Harper’s Bazaar when Wintour put models’ hair in dreadlocks for a couture photo shoot.

As Wintour's friend tells it, she's “persuasively sexual without obvious flash when she dances, which she does with a vengeance and irritatingly well.” What a description!

Wintour's daugther, Bee Shaffer, says that her mom rises at 5am and goes to bed at 10pm.

New York Magazine reported that Wintour’s salary was $2 million in 2011, but that figure has likely gone up now that she has been named Condé Nast artistic director.

Some sources cite age 14, but according to T Magazine the signature bob has been in place since age 15.

Reportedly, the style is nicknamed the "AW."

"I look for strong people," says Wintour of her staff. "I don't like people who'll say yes to everything I might bring up. I want people who can argue, and disagree, and have a point of view that's reflected in the magazine."

After Wintour dropped out of North London Collegiate School, she went to work at at Harrod's.

She apparently sipped on a cappuccino at the Vogue holiday party, and has admitted that she never drinks.

According to the BBC documentary Boss Woman, Wintour does not like to stay out late.

Which fact did you find suprising? Were there any you have heard before? Let us know in the comments below!

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Kat Collings has over 15 years of experience in the editorial fashion space, largely in digital publishing. She currently leads the vision for editorial content at WhoWhatWear.com as the site's editor in chief, having risen through the editorial ranks after joining the company in 2012. Collings is a Digiday Future Leader Awards nominee, was named Buzzfeed's best fashion Instagram accounts of the year, and is a member of the CFDA Awards Fashion Guild. Prior to Who What Wear, Collings worked on styling projects for brands such as Vogue, Teen Vogue, Lucky, and Oliver Peoples. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in communications and calls Los Angeles home.