Anna Wintour quotes

Anna Wintour is a British-American journalist and the longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. Her leadership and distinct fashion sense have made her one of the most influential figures in the fashion industry. She remains known for shaping trends and mentoring emerging designers. Here are 24 of her quotes:

Fashion's not about looking back. It's always about looking forward.

Anna Wintour

If you look at any great fashion photograph out of context, it will tell you just as much about what's going on in the world as a headline in The New York Times.

Anna Wintour

"[The democratization of luxury] means more people are going to get better fashion. And the more people who can have fashion, the better.

Anna Wintour

It's always about timing. If it's too soon, no one understands. If it's too late, everyone's forgotten.

Anna Wintour

I surround myself with a talented group of people that are opinionated and interesting. I try to remain very open to what others have to say.

Anna Wintour

I look for strong people. 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. My dad believed in the cult of personality. He brought great writers and columnists to 'The Standard.'

Anna Wintour

I'm very good at delegating - people work much better when they have a real sense of responsibility. But at the same time, I don't like surprises. I don't pore over every shoot, but I do like to be aware at all times of what's going on.

Anna Wintour

I wasn't academically successful. And maybe I've spent a lot of my career trying to make up for that.

Anna Wintour

If one comes across sometimes as being cold or brusque, it's simply because I'm striving for the best.

Anna Wintour

The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying. This is America, not Saudi Arabia.

Anna Wintour

I don't think of myself as a powerful person.

Anna Wintour

To be in 'Vogue' has to mean something. It's an endorsement. It's a validation.

Anna Wintour

Create your own style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.

Anna Wintour

In the end I do respond to my own instincts. Sometimes they're successful, and obviously sometimes they're not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.

Anna Wintour

I've been very lucky to put women that I sincerely admire on the cover of 'Vogue:' the then First Lady and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and, more recently, First Lady Michelle Obama. Those were benchmarks for the magazine, and certainly covers that I've been very, very proud of.

Anna Wintour

I'm very driven by what I do. I am certainly very competitive. I like people who represent the best at what they do, and if that turns you into a perfectionist, then maybe I am.

Anna Wintour

I think possibly what people working for one hate the most is indecision. Even if I'm completely unsure, I'll pretend I know exactly what I'm talking about and make a decision. The most important thing I can do is try and make myself very clearly understood.

Anna Wintour

It's important for young women and men coming out of the fashion schools to think seriously before starting their own collections.

Anna Wintour

Part of the pleasure of editing 'Vogue,' one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.

Anna Wintour

I went to Wimbledon before I could walk. It's just been a lifelong passion.

Anna Wintour

'Vogue' is the best of everything that fashion can offer, and I think we point the way. We are, you know, a glamorous girlfriend.

Anna Wintour