Chloe Malle, a familiar face at Vogue and the daughter of actress Candice Bergen and renowned French director Louis Malle, is stepping into the spotlight as the new head of editorial content for American Vogue. The news, first reported on September 1, 2025, by Puck and subsequently echoed by outlets such as Page Six and The Independent, marks a significant leadership transition at the iconic fashion publication.
Malle, 39, has been a steady presence at Vogue for over a decade, rising through the ranks from social editor to podcast host and, most recently, editor of Vogue.com. Her appointment comes after months of speculation and a closely watched search led by Anna Wintour, Vogue’s legendary editor-in-chief, who announced in June that she would be stepping down from her role as head of editorial content after a remarkable 37-year tenure.
According to Puck, Wintour’s approach to selecting her successor was, as always, meticulous and strategic. Wintour, now 75, has long been known for choosing editorial leaders whose visions align closely with her own. This time was no exception. As Puck noted, "Her tenure in the Condé Nast corporate suite has been defined by choosing editorial leaders whose visions would largely fit within hers." The new editorial head, now called the head of editorial content, is expected to "fit within Wintour's vision for Vogue."
The announcement of Malle’s new role is expected to be made official as early as Tuesday, September 2, 2025, just ahead of the highly anticipated New York Fashion Week (slated to run from September 11 through September 16). According to The Independent, Malle’s appointment was rumored as early as August, when she entered the final rounds of interviews, competing with other high-profile candidates such as Nicole Phelps, the global director of Vogue Runway.
Wintour, who was appointed editor-in-chief of Vogue in 1988, will not be disappearing from the scene. Instead, she will continue to serve as Condé Nast’s chief content officer and Vogue’s global editorial director, roles that ensure her influence on the magazine’s direction and the broader fashion industry remains strong. When announcing her decision to step down from the American Vogue editorial helm, Wintour addressed her staff, reflecting on her long journey: "Anybody in a creative field knows how essential it is never to stop growing in one’s work," she said, according to Vogue. "When I became the editor of Vogue, I was eager to prove to all who might listen that there was a new, exciting way to imagine an American fashion magazine."
Wintour’s legacy is undeniable. Throughout the 1990s and well into the 21st century, she helped solidify Vogue’s status as the preeminent voice in fashion, fending off stiff competition from rivals like Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and Mirabella. Her hands-on approach to photoshoots and her personal curation of the annual Met Gala guest list became industry legend. Yet, as she explained in her farewell editorial meeting, her "greatest pleasure" has been "helping the next generation of impassioned editors storm the field with their own ideas, supported by a new, exciting view of what a major media company can be."
Chloe Malle’s journey to the top of American Vogue is as unconventional as it is inspiring. After studying comparative literature and writing at Brown University, she found herself at a crossroads. "When I graduated, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do," Malle once said, as reported by The Independent. "I was always interested in writing—I edited the weekly paper at Brown and loved that." Her career began with an internship at the New York Observer, where she was soon hired to cover real estate. She quickly branched out as a freelance writer, contributing to the New York Times Style section and landing bylines in Vogue, before her big break arrived in 2011 when she was hired as social editor.
Her first interview at Vogue, as she herself recounted, was hardly out of a style playbook. "I think back to my interview at Vogue and I’m a little embarrassed," she admitted in 2014. "You’re supposed to never wear black. I wore black... It was in March and so cold, so I wore black tights and these black J. Crew suede booties, which were fine, but were sort of falling apart. And then I wore this very boring, short—not super short, but short-ish—Diane von Furstenberg collared dress with a gray and white striped blazer." She added, "It was plain, but it was fine. But then I wore this white-orange pashmina and this orange beaded bag that I thought were really cool... I consider myself more of a 'fashion girl' now, but my evolution’s been almost by osmosis."
As social editor, Malle was thrust into the high-society whirl of party coverage and best-dressed lists. "I work on the best-dressed lists and write party coverage for Vogue.com, which is so funny because I used to hate going out," she told Into the Gloss in 2014. "I’m such a morning person. But now that I decide what parties to cover for the website, I’m usually out three to four nights a week." Over the years, she has demonstrated a knack for adapting to the ever-evolving demands of fashion journalism, embracing new media formats and digital storytelling as Vogue’s audience expanded across platforms.
Malle’s appointment is not just a personal milestone, but a significant moment for the fashion media industry. As Page Six and The Independent both reported, her selection followed a rigorous search process, with input from Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch and Wintour herself. The transition is being watched closely, not just for what it portends for Vogue, but for what it signals about the future of fashion journalism in an era of rapid change.
For Wintour, the handover is both an end and a new beginning. She assured staff that she would continue to pay "very close attention to the fashion industry and to the creative cultural force that is our extraordinary Met Ball." Her ongoing presence at Condé Nast ensures that her vision will still shape Vogue’s future, even as a new generation steps forward.
With Chloe Malle at the helm, American Vogue enters a new chapter—one that blends continuity with fresh perspective. As the fashion world turns its attention to New York Fashion Week, all eyes will be on Malle as she takes the reins of a publication that remains, after nearly four decades under Wintour, the gold standard for style and influence.
