Posted: 00:05, August 7, 2022 | Updated: 00:24, 7 August 2022
For Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the September issue of the magazine is the main event on the calendar. It often runs hundreds of pages, features fall fashions, and brings in tons of ad revenue. There was even a documentary on how the thing is put together. But I’m told this year his success is under threat as Anna, who is also global content director at Conde Nast, faces a potential revolt over pay, contracts and union recognition. Vogue’s sister magazine Wired nearly lost millions last month when workers threatened to shut down the magazine’s revenue-generating advertising links on its website. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (pictured) faces a potential revolt over pay, contracts and union recognition More than 100 New Yorkers and other Conde Nast employees protested outside Anna Wintour’s $12.5 million Greenwich Village mansion in April “We firmly believe that all Conde Nast workers deserve the rights and protections of a union and a fair contract,” they said. Within hours, bosses caved in to their demands, awarding pay rises and contracts. Now Conde Nast insiders tell me that the protest, which has been called “No Contract, No Clicks,” could be coming to Vogue next, just in time for the all-important issue. “Staff across the titles have learned how to hit Conte where it hurts,” a source tells me. “There are a lot more people displaying ‘Conde Union’ badges on their work emails and [workplace messaging service] Relax chat profiles now.’ This could be the first digital protest in Anna’s 34-year history of running the magazine, although she has gone through a real series of blankets. In April, the notorious 72-year-old high priestess of fashion braved chants from 400 protesters outside her New York mansion holding placards that read “You can’t eat prestige” and “Boss wears Prada, workers get nada.” Anna has tried hard to preserve her legacy in recent years by making Conde Nast more awake, and at an editorial meeting she is said to have asked, “Why are there so many white people in the room?” However, sources say any pay dispute will be difficult for her to avoid as “everyone answers to Anna”. Damon’s very large house… for bats “He lives in a house, a very big house in the country,” so Blur No 1 goes. And now frontman Damon Albarn’s Devon country home is about to get even bigger. The musician has been given the go-ahead for a renovation of his country retreat, which he bought in the mid-90s when Blur were at the height of their fame. Damon Albarn has been given permission to make changes to his holiday home on the condition that he also builds a house for bats But, in return, he has been ordered to build a state-of-the-art ‘bat barn’ after the creatures were found roosting there. Damon is believed to have come up with the plans after hiding out in the shelter during the lockdown. Good thinking, bat!
