Anna Wintour has chosen her replacement as her 37 years of work at Vogue draws to a close—and the media has much to say about it. Following the July announcement of Wintour stepping down from her position as the head editor of American Vogue (otherwise known as one of the prominent jobs in fashion), people certainly had expectations about who would fill such a powerful position. Needless to say, the announcement of 39-year-old Chloe Malle did not meet those expectations. The media and fashion lovers alike are outraged, calling it nepotism. But who is Chloe Malle, why are people so furious, and what does nepotism really mean?
Chloe Malle is an Ivy League graduate from Brown, having degrees in both Comparative Literature and Writing. After college, she embarked on her career at The New York Observer following a successful internship with the company. Independently, her writing has even appeared in multiple other acclaimed publications such as The New York Times, Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, and more. Arguably, one of the least noteworthy aspects of Chloe Malle might be her famous parents—actress Candice Bergen (Sex and the City) and late filmmaker Louis Malle (The Silent World).
If you have spent any time in the media, you have heard the word nepotism. The word, once rarely used, has now practically become a staple phrase on social media. Nepotism is when an individual is given an opportunity or power solely because of who their relatives (or even friends) are. This is a concept that is seen in the workplace and the business world—but we hear about it most frequently in the media. If you think you have never seen someone in the media receive nepotism accusations, take a closer look at these wildly talented individuals: Hailey Bieber, Lily-Rose Depp, Robert Downey Jr. or even Jennifer Aniston. After Vogue‘s announcement of their new head editor, the media immediately launched their ‘nepo-baby’ campaign—and Chloe Malle was the center of it. Despite this role being in fashion and journalism, people have tied her parents’ fame to her hiring. Some point to how she dresses or claim that she didn’t work for Vogue, using those hateful or even false allegations to call nepotism.
What the media neglects to realize is that Malle has been working at Vogue for nearly 15 years now. Not only has she worked at Vogue for a decade and a half, but she also worked her way up and was named in her introduction article by Wintour as “One of Vogue’s secret weapons.” Malle’s first position title was Social Editor, which is considered a mid-senior level position at the company. In her impressive performance balancing the social coverage and contributions on a wide range of topics, she was also given the opportunity to be an editor for several Vogue books. After a promotion to Contributing Editor in 2016, she worked for 7 years overseeing special projects, writing features, and more. Once again, her renowned work in these spaces led to another promotion, making Malle the editor of Vogue.com, her most significant position to date at that time. With Malle in this role, site traffic and overall success on the site soared to new heights with record engagement.
It is clear that Malle had not only an impressive Ivy League education, but also extensive prior experience at and outside of Vogue. But why are people still claiming nepotism? To be honest, going into writing this article—I also threw the term “nepotism” at Chloe Malle, unaware of her extensive Vogue experience and education. I (like most) was also unaware that there is no known connection between Candice Bergen and Louis Malle and Anna Wintour. The only brief connection that could be made between them is that Candice Bergen played a character similar to Wintour on Sex in the City, but Wintour never publicly commented on this portrayal.
While her parents’ status could have simply landed her this job, Malle’s experience transcends the need for nepotism. In a social stratosphere where the words nepotism or ‘nepo-baby’ are thrown out casually, I hope people begin to take the time to consider what the individual has done in their personal lives outside of who their parents are. I think there are many truths in nepotism, such as people getting hired based on the status of their parents, or even people having the experience, but their parents’ names pushing them that extra mile. But what I don’t believe is that Chloe Malle was hired just based on her parents’ name. Malle has experience that would qualify her for a head editor position anywhere, and I think we should start seeing her for what she is—qualified.