Vogue

Vogue is an American fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 21 national and regional editions by Condé Nast.

The current editor-in-chief of American Vogue is Anna Wintour, noted for her trademark bob and her trademark sunglasses she always wears indoors.

Since taking over in 1988, Wintour has worked to protect the magazine's high status and reputation among fashion publications.

To do so, the magazine became a pedestal focusing on new and accessible concepts of "fashion" for a wider audience.

This allowed Wintour to keep a high circulation while discovering new trends that a broader audience could conceivably afford.

For example, the inaugural cover of the magazine under Wintour's editorship featured a three-quarter-length photograph of Israeli super model Michaela Bercu wearing a bejeweled Christian Lacroix jacket and a pair of jeans, departing from her predecessors' tendency to portray a woman's face alone, which according to the Times', gave "greater importance to both her clothing and her body.

This image also promoted a new form of chic by combining jeans with haute couture. Wintour's debut cover brokered a class-mass rapprochement that informs modern fashion to this day.

Wintour's Vogue also welcomes new and young talent.

Wintour's presence at fashion shows is often taken by fashion insiders as an indicator of the designer's profile within the industry.

In 2003, she joined the Council of Fashion Designers of America in creating a fund that provides money and guidance to at least two emerging designers each year.

This has built loyalty among the emerging new star designers, and helped preserve the magazine's dominant position of influence through what Time called her own "considerable influence over American fashion.

Runway shows don't start until she arrives.

Designers succeed because she anoints them.

Trends are created or crippled on her command.

The contrast of Wintour's vision with that of her predecessor has been noted as striking by observers, both critics and defenders.

Amanda Fortini, fashion and style contributor to Slate argues that her policy has been beneficial for Vogue.